Remnant of the Key
by lyokoMARVELanime
Summary: Adopted from FandomBard12. Four Keybladers meet four huntresses while on a quest to recover a lost friend. Now, their destinies shall become intertwined as they fight against darkness of both Remnant and beyond. The question is, just what else will come from this meeting between the two?
1. The Key's New Journey

_**And now, the first story ever to be adopted by this writer and his studio, along with another venture into the world of Remnant, crossover style, heeeeeeerrreeeeeee's...the studio of lyokoMARVELanime, with your host, lyokoMARVELanime himself!**_

_**[audience applause]**_

_**AN: Hello one and all! And thank you for tuning in to today's newest story. As the announcer just stated, this story is in fact adopted from another writer. To be clear, it was adopted from "FandomBard12". Some of you tuning in may already know that, but others, who may or may not be regular readers, reviewers, and/or followers are likely just now learning of the fact. Either way, I'm glad to see you decided to have a look at my first ever, full-on RWBY crossover story.**_

_**Ruby: Wait, what about RWBY Meetings? Doesn't that count?**_

_**AN: Depends on how you look at it. Technically speaking that one's a regular RWBY story, hence the reason why I posted it with all the other normal RWBY fanfics, and its a series of short-stories/one-shots that has you and your friends going on an adventure with different guest stars with every new story. This is an honest-to-god, full-on story, so I'm calling this the first true crossover story.**_

_**Yang: Makes sense to me, and from what I've seen with just this first chapter, I'm getting a pretty good read on this. Eh? Eh?**_

_**AN: Urgh. No. There was no way that could've even sounded good in your head.**_

_**Yang: Yeah, you're right. It didn't, but I couldn't think of anything better at the time.**_

_**Weiss: Then maybe you shouldn't have said anything.**_

_**AN: Okay, moving on before Yang decides to beat up Ice Queen...**_

_**Weiss: Hey!**_

_**AN: ...Let's go over a few details about this story, in comparison to the original version. Yes, there will be more than a few changes in comparison, since the original was posted before Kingdom Hearts 3 had come out. As such, this story will actually take place Post-KH3, though there will be more than a few AU elements in here. I'll go over the full list of differences from KH3 Canon in the ending note, assuming you guys can't pick up on that yourselves by that point, but I'm sure that you're all smart people and can probably figure out a majority of them for yourselves.**_

_**Sora: Uh, should I be worried at all about my status in this story?**_

_**AN: Not at this moment, no.**_

_**Sora: What do you mean, "not at this moment"? I thought you said that this was an AU from KH Canon.**_

_**AN: Look, you'll get what I mean as we get further into the story, or at least as we get into this first chapter, okay? With that said, let's rock and roll, everybody!**_

_**I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story.**_

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Key's New Journey**

**Long ago, a young man went on a long journey to different worlds. He made many friends, found many things relating to the past, and saved so many lives as he pressed forward to the future. Many people of that past were lost, but thanks to the boy, they were able to come back, ready to fight for a brighter future once again, and together, they all averted a grave catastrophe. Sadly, their victory did not come without a price, and even now, they were still feeling the hurt that came with their loss, but none more so than the boy himself. Despite the sorrow he felt, the boy would soon find himself being called upon again, as the key to saving so many, as a new destiny would begin to unfold for him, but that would not be for a while. This will be the start of a new journey for the boy and three of his friends. This will be the day that they had waited for, to begin a quest to recover what they had lost.**

* * *

On the beaches of the small world known as Destiny Islands, a young man clad in a red and black attire with a crown pendant hanging from his neck on a chain necklace was hard at work training with the legendary weapon known as the Keyblade, but from the look on his face, and the ferocity of his swings, it was clear that he was not just performing a few simple practice drills. The boy, named Sora, was running these exercises to help keep his mind off of what had happened during the final battle against Master Xehanort and the thirteen darknesses; the final moments of the Second Keyblade War. They had done everything right. They gathered the Seven Guardians of Light, Sora helped bring back those who were hurting and lost, even if they were originally on the wrong side at first, and they made sure that they were all trained up, rested, and ready for when the battle began. Sora had been sure that would be enough to stop the fallen master from forcing history to repeat itself and bring back the χ-blade, but in the end, it turned out he was wrong, and the person he cared about the most had to pay for it.

Kairi had fought her hardest, and showed that her training with Axel and Merlin was not a waste. She even managed to fight off Xemnas when he tried to kidnap her again, which was definitely impressive given how he had managed to throw all of them off-balance when he suddenly disappeared and then reappeared behind her the way he did, and when it came time to end things for good, she was right there with him, Riku, and Mickey for the final face-off against Master Xehanort, his younger self, his Heartless, and his Nobody. Despite all of this though, Xehanort proved that he had not earned his title as a Keyblade master through trickery or any easy means when he overpowered all four of them, and then struck Kairi down, right before Sora's eyes. Not only did that provide him with the final piece that he needed to complete the χ-blade, but it also served as the thing that broke Sora as he threw everything he had at Xehanort in an attempt to avenge Kairi. It did not do him any good, and Sora was forced to watch as the true Kingdom Hearts was summoned while Xehanort practically flaunted his victory in all of their faces. Still, despite that, they did not give up, and with the help of all the rest of their friends, they found a way for Sora to chase after Xehanort and finally stop him for good, sealing Kingdom Hearts with the χ-blade once all was said and done.

When they all had finished, Sora was ready to try and use the power of waking to bring Kairi back, but it was at that point that all the adrenaline that had been fueling him throughout the fight had finally run its course, and Sora soon collapsed on the ground in front of them. When he next woke up, he found himself lying in a bed in Master Yen Sid's tower, with Aqua tending to him as best as she could via healing spells and regular medicine. Apparently, the blue haired master had come to view Sora as a younger brother, much like she did Ventus, but unfortunately, her being there had the unfortunate side-effect of leaving her as the one to deliver the bad news to Sora. There was now very little chance that anyone would be able to bring Kairi back with the power of waking, assuming it would have ever worked in the first place, and if Sora were to even try it, then not only would he run the risk of never returning, but there was a very real possibility that he and Kairi would both be lost forever.

Sora tried to argue and say that he could bring Kairi back, that they would both be back if he made the attempt, but Yen Sid had already put his foot down on the matter. Never had Sora wanted to argue with the wise, old sorcerer and retired Keyblade master more than he did at that moment, and the only thing that prevented Sora from lashing out at Yen Sid was the fact that he promised he would look into a way to return Kairi home to them all. Xion had insisted that Kairi was still out there somewhere, and the fact that Naminé had been brought back while Sora was unconscious certainly served to back up the claim, so Sora just had to swallow his hurt feelings for now and trust that the old wizard would come through. That did not make the hurt he felt at failing to keep Kairi safe like he had promised he would any easier to bear, so he spent many days after returning home out on the play island, running as many drills as he could with the Keyblade and his magic in order to make sure he would be better for the future. Even when all of his other friends came to the island to visit and have fun that one day, Sora stood apart from them, practicing while silently promising once again that he would not lose anymore friends the same way he had lost Kairi.

It really hurt a lot of those same friends to see Sora so upset, but despite their best efforts, there was really nothing that they could do to help make him feel better. So, they left him to his drills, only stepping into his circle of solitude whenever he stopped to catch his breath or call it a day, assuming he did either one of those things. Riku could not tell you how often he found Sora collapsed on the sands of the beach at night when he went out to check and see if he was still going. It hurt the older boy too, not having Kairi with them, but it still hurt more seeing how much it affected Sora.

Speaking of his best friend, Sora actually found his friend gazing down at him when he finally stopped and just collapsed onto his back, panting heavily, and despite the inner sorrow he felt at having to watch his friend work himself to death like this, Riku still managed to get a playful smirk on his face when he greeted him. "Giving up already," the silver haired boy asked.

"No, just relaxing for a minute," Sora replied casually while putting on his usual smile, or at least the best version of it he could give.

Riku was not fooled. He knew that the smile had lost a lot of its shine and usual charm ever since Xehanort had struck down Kairi, but he was not going to call Sora out on it. That was the last thing that Sora needed right now, so he simply humored his friend. "Well, at least your keeping up with your training," Riku commented with a smile before he came around to Sora's left and sat down next to him. "Have you made sure to practice with your other forms and Keyblade transformations too?"

"Yeah, and I was actually going to do some work with my Flowmotion abilities after this, and maybe even the Attraction Flows and Heart Binders," Sora revealed. "What about you? What brings you here? I thought you would be busy doing something with Naminé."

"We're taking a slight break at the moment. She is still getting used to just having the Keyblade, after all," Riku explained.

Shortly after the Second Keyblade War had ended and she was brought back, Naminé found out that she too could use the Keyblade. It was a little surprising at first, but then again, considering that Roxas was able to use the Keyblade due in part to the fact that he was Sora's Nobody, it did make a little sense that Kairi's Nobody would be able to wield one as well. Riku and Aqua were now hard at work doing their best to help Naminé practice and get a better feel for the power and all that came with it, and the petite blonde certainly showed quite an impressive aptitude for magic, but it was still pretty slow going if you were to ask Naminé herself. Not that she could blame anyone, considering what happened the last time they rushed someone's training with the Keyblade.

Sora just hummed in response to Riku's answer, and was a little tempted to throw in a teasing remark at his friend's expense. After all, it was no secret to anyone that Riku and Naminé had actually started seeing each other shortly after he appeared in Radiant Garden, with a hand out to her so that he could bring her aboard the gummi ship for a flight across the worlds like a knight in shining armor, and just minutes after Naminé was brought back at that. His temptation was quickly squashed though, as the thought of his best friend finding someone special actually started to bring down his mood a little, since it reminded him that the girl he thought was his one and only was not with them right now, but he did not have to think too long before he decided on another topic to pursue.

"What about Aqua, Roxas, and the others? Have you heard much from them lately," Sora questioned.

Riku would have asked why Sora had not talked to them, given that he was well aware that Sora knew everyone in their group now had a Gummiphone, but he managed to stop himself from doing so, since that he also knew why Sora had not been answering most of those calls, and it was not just because he was so focused on his training. "Aqua's been doing all right," Riku shrugged in reply. "She's been patrolling the worlds quite a bit with Ventus and Terra, but mostly Terra. We're all pretty sure that she's just using those patrols so that the two of them can sneak away for some private time or dates. I don't think Ven minds too much about that, given that he always goes to hang out at the bistro in Twilight Town or at Disney Town whenever those two do that. Roxas and Xion are still going out too, and Lea's been doing his best to help Isa get used to being whole again. Hayner and those other guys have been a big help in that, but there's no denying that all of them are glad to be reunited and able to enjoy sunsets on the clock tower with sea-salt ice cream in hand."

It honestly felt a little weird being the one to give Sora these kind of reports, as Riku was a lot more used to hearing about these kind of things from either Sora or Kairi. When he thought about that, he figured that it was just another sign of how much losing their redheaded friend affected them both, and figured that he should try and change the subject before Sora noticed that. Sora beat him to the punch though, as he simply nodded along in reply, honestly happy for all of their friends, and said, "That's good to hear. So what brings you out here? Anything new?"

Riku was not going to lie. He was glad that Sora was able to help him get down to business before things got too intense, but he was still a little worried about how Sora would react to the other reason he was here. After a few minutes of silence though, Riku found he could not put it off, and finally replied, "Yeah, actually. Yen Sid told me to come and get you. Said there was something he needed to talk with you about."

As predicted, Sora's smiling face dropped into a scowl when he heard that. Hearing anything about Yen Sid these days just reminded Sora of how the wizard had forbade him from using the power of waking to try and bring Kairi back, along with the fact that it was Yen Sid who had decided to bring Kairi into the whole mess that was the battle against Xehanort in the first place. Yes, he knew that Kairi had decided to help on her own, mainly out of a desire to not just sit on the sidelines while the rest of friends did all the work anymore, but grief does make people act very irrational at times, even Sora. That did not mean he was completely unreceptive to whatever news Yen Sid would send his way when it did come.

"Did he finally find something," Sora asked, tersely.

"I'm not sure. He just said that he needed to see you right away, and that Roxas, Ven, and Lea were going to be there, too," Riku answered as carefully as he could.

Upon hearing that some of his other friends would be there, Sora let out a slow sigh in an attempt to refrain from any angry outbursts, and said, "All right. Let's get going and see what the old man wants. Hopefully it's something good."

Riku could only nod in response to that as he and his friend stood up, but he could still pick up on the hidden meaning behind his friend's words. Sora was basically saying that this had better have something to do with Kairi, because otherwise it would be a complete waste of his time. Naturally the spiky haired teen did not say it, because even when he was upset, Sora was still a really nice guy, but anyone who knew him could still find the signs of his true feelings. Riku just hoped that Yen Sid did have news about Kairi, and that it would improve Sora's mood from even a fraction of what it was right now.

* * *

Upon arriving at and entering the tower, Sora walked into Yen Sid's study to see Roxas, Ventus, and Lea were already there, seated in some chairs before the desk. This was a little peculiar, given that they had always stood before desk before, and Yen Sid was usually sitting on the other side as well, but Sora was not really planning on questioning it. In his mind at the moment, he felt that the less time he spent around Yen Sid, the better, so he just walked over to took the only other vacant seat besides Yen Sid's.

Having noticed his friend's entrance, Roxas looked over with a smile and asked, "Hey Sora. How are you?"

"Good all things considered," Sora casually replied with a shrug. "How about you? Anything going on lately?"

"Not too much since the last time we talked. Xion and I are still going out, and Axel's been a big help getting us reintegrated into society, as he puts it, along with Hayner and the others. Between that, I've just been practicing more with the Keyblade along with Xion," Roxas says with a proud smirk. "Oh, Xion says hi by the way."

Sora smiled at that. It was always nice to hear that his former Nobody was doing good and the same applied to his girlfriend as well. Of course, Sora had not really spent too much time with Xion, not out of any personal dislike of the girl, but mainly because it was hard being around her since she looked so much like Kairi, or at least the way Kairi looked back when he was on his very first journey. It was not something that Sora really enjoyed too much, given that it made him seem really lousy to distance himself from someone just because of how they look, and he did like Xion quite a bit. She was a lot like the little sister he never had in a way, but it was just too hard for him to be around her and not immediately think of the girl he had lost at the moment.

Apparently, his sour thoughts on the matter where becoming clear on his face, as Lea chose that time to speak up, hoping to lighten the mood. "Hey, haven't I told you guys to stop calling me Axel? It's Lea now. Axel was the name of my Nobody, and since I'm not a Nobody anymore, you should really stop calling me by that name."

"Sorry, but I can't help it. I just got the name Axel too well memorized," Roxas shrugged with a smile.

"Same here," Sora admitted. "Besides, a lot of the rest of us still call you that, too, so you can't really blame him."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. No need to point out obvious stuff or throw my catchphrase back at me," Lea waved off with an easy-going smile.

"Hey, at least I still call you Lea, and so do Aqua and Terra. That's gotta count for something," Ventus reassured the tall redhead.

"It does actually. Thanks, Ven," Lea nodded in appreciation.

Seeing and being part of the friendly interaction between his old friends again brought a genuine smile to Sora's face, probably the first one he had been able to form since he woke up after the Second Keyblade War, but it quickly became replaced with a small scowl when their host finally arrived, taking his usual seat before them after he stepped into the room. While the other three gave respectful nods of greeting to the blue-robbed sorcerer, Sora just remained as he was, keeping an even look that still seemed so much like a powerful glare on Yen Sid. Seeing that rather out-of-place look on Sora's face made Yen Sid mentally sigh in sadness, knowing the reason why Sora's opinion of him was so low at the moment, and the fact that he had not managed to find a way to bring back Kairi after almost two months of looking was most certainly not doing any favors, so he decided to skip the small talk for now. Not that he ever really bothered with it too much when there were important matters to attend to, mind you.

"It is good to see you have all come as quickly as you did, for as you may have guessed, the task I have for you all is of the utmost importance," Yen Sid began.

Sora was about to cut in and rudely say that he did not want to do anything for the old wizard if it did not help them bring back Kairi, but Lea stepped in before he could, and asked, "And just what is it, old man?"

Yen Sid was silently thankful that Lea had asked that before Sora could speak, because it would allow him to reveal the reason why he had asked for Sora specifically. "It may serve to bring home our lost Princess of Heart."

"You mean…you finally found Kairi," Sora asked in disbelief, his previous annoyance slowly beginning to evaporate.

Yen Sid raised a hand to signal for Sora to abstain from his rising excitement, at least for a moment, and carried on in his explanation. "When Xehanort struck Kairi down, what we believed to be a finishing blow was actually much different. You see, the Keyblade that Xehanort wielded did not belong to him first, but to a much different individual: one of the first Keyblade masters in history, and I have recently discovered that he placed an enchantment on the blade, should it ever be used to strike someone with a heart of pure light, such as the Princesses of Heart. This spell would not kill the person, but instead, send them to safety, somewhere far from their attacker's reach, and that is what I believe has happened to Kairi."

"So she was just blasted to a different world, huh? Well, it's not like this hasn't happened before," Lea muttered to himself, earning an elbow from Roxas as the blonde attempted to silence his friend's rudeness.

"It had taken some time to make this discovery, but once I did, I put all of my focus into discovering just which world Kairi was sent to. Sadly, I cannot say exactly where she is on the world she had landed; only that her light is coming from that world. I would like for the four of you to travel to that world in order to find her, but more than that, going to this world will have another benefit for you all as well," Yen Sid revealed.

"What kind of benefit," Ventus asked.

"You will all be able to receive special training on this world; training that will not only strengthen your abilities as Keyblade wielders, but may also serve to ensure that you will be ready should we ever face another threat as great as Xehanort and the Second Keyblade War," Yen Sid informed them. "Sora, by taking on this training, you will also become ever closer to truly proving yourself worthy of the Mark of Mastery, for I feel that by the time your work on this world is done, you will have proven yourself a true Keyblade master."

"You mean like you said I would when Riku and I entered the realm of dreams," Sora asked. He may not have been willing to admit it at the time, but part of him was a little upset about not passing that exam, and that Yen Sid did not seem to take Xehanort's interference in it into consideration when he made his decision on who had passed back then. Now though, he had no problem with making his bitterness known.

"This will not be like that time, Sora, but you should still be forewarned that there will be things on this world just as dangerous if not more so than the Heartless," Yen Sid cautioned. "However, when you arrive on this world, an old friend of mine will be there to help you in learning all there is to know about the world, and he may very well be of great assistance in helping you to reunite with Kairi."

Given the fact that he had heard various different promises from Yen Sid that did not quite pan out before, Sora was only going to trust the man's words with a grain of salt. Still, if there was a chance that they could find Kairi and bring her home, then he did not have much choice but to trust the old man. Besides, if there was a chance that he could grow stronger in the process, how could he pass this up? "Fine, I accept," Sora agreed, but not without delivering one little ultimatum of his own. "But unless something really big comes up, don't expect me to leave that world any time soon. Not until I've found Kairi."

Yen Sid nodded in acceptance of that, and then retrieved a slip of paper from his robe to hand over to the boys. "Here are the coordinates to the world you must venture to," he informed the four boys. "There is a special gummi ship just outside will be able to take you there, and which you will be able to hide from the people of that world for the duration of your stay. Good luck." After Sora had accepted the paper and nodded in thanks along with the others, Yen Sid then quietly whispered, "May your heart be your guiding key."

The group of four then took their leave, making their way out of the tower and to the gummi ship that Yen Sid had mentioned once they had, with Sora at the front of the group. When the group had left, the old sorcerer finally let out that sad sigh he had been holding back ever since Sora first stepped in. He did not expect the boy to be completely back to normal, but he had hoped that a short time away from him and all of this would improve Sora's mood a little bit. Clearly thinking that Riku's reports on Sora's recent attitude and tendencies were slightly exaggerated had been a mistake on his part. Still, Sora did accept the mission and was now on his way to another world, so there was some silver lining at least.

Thinking of that mission, Yen Sid rose from his seat and pulled a sheet off of an old mirror, just in time to see a face coming into focus in the reflective glass. When the image came into full focus, it revealed a man with silver hair, brown eyes, and dressed in a black suit with a green scarf. "I take it that they are on their way," the man asked.

"Yes, they should be leaving at any moment now," Yen Sid confirmed. "I do apologize if I'm contacting you at a bad time."

"No apologies necessary, old friend. After all, this form of communication is far from perfect, much like the form the general populous of this world uses," the man reassured with an easy-going smile. He then became a little more serious and questioned, "I must ask again: are you absolutely certain that the missing princess is here on Remnant?"

"There is very little doubt in my mind," Yen Sid confirmed.

"Then I pray that your group of Keyblade wielders find her swiftly, for we may very well be facing a few problems of our own here, soon enough. I'm not sure what _she_ could plan for the girl, but the fact that someone we believe to be associated with _her_ targeted one of the maidens…And there's one other thing as well. Your missing princess may not be the only one here on Remnant."

"Do you mean to say that one of the new seven is also there," Yen Sid questioned, his tone becoming a little more urgent.

"I have a suspicion or two," the man nodded a little cryptically. At least it would seem that way to anyone else, but Yen Sid knew that in this case, he was just erring on the side of caution because he was not one-hundred percent sure just yet.

Knowing this, Yen Sid nodded in return and fell silent, before he added one other request. "I just hope that his time at your school will help Sora regain that which he lost after the Second Keyblade War, and I am not referring to any powers he may or may not have once possessed."

"Don't worry, old friend. There's more than one reason why my school was named Beacon after all. I'm sure that he will soon return to the boy you once knew before that tragedy," the silver haired man promised.

Yen Sid nodded once more, grateful for at least some reassurance, but still skeptical all the same. "It would take a great deal of effort on anyone's part for that."

"Or perhaps, it may be simpler than you believe. Something that simply requires a smaller, more honest soul," the man posed with a knowing smile.

After letting out a small chuckle in response to that suggestion, Yen Sid gave the man a very grateful look as he said, "Thank you for that, Ozma."

"Please old friend, don't refer to me by that name. I haven't been called that in ages. I'd much rather you use the name everyone else does now: Ozpin," the silver haired man requested.

* * *

While the other three were fairly impressed and eager to explore the stealth gummi ship, as Ventus insisted on calling it, Sora just focused on getting up to the cockpit so he could punch in the world coordinates and get them under way. It was a little weird to see Sora so focused on a mission like this, but then again, Donald and Goofy did say that Sora had acted a lot similar to this on his very first journey with them, so maybe this was just like that. That was not going to stop them from doing whatever they could to keep Sora smiling throughout the journey, especially since the ship still ran on happy faces, as per usual with all the gummi ships Sora had ever flown on, and that was without taking in the fact that it was going to take some time to reach their destination, given that it was the first time any of them had ever been to this world. It was annoying when their destination could not be reached by simply warping there via warp gummi, but it was necessary to make that happen, so they could not complain too much.

Shortly after lifting off, Sora finally let out a tired sigh before he finally turned to look at his three new traveling companions. While Roxas and Ven still looked the same as always, both in terms of their choice of attire and in the fact that they were near identical twins, it was only just now that Sora had finally taken notice of the fact that the pyro of their foursome had switched things up a bit. "Hey Axel, I couldn't help but notice just now that you're not wearing your old coat anymore," Sora commented.

"Yeah, I mean, I know Xion and I were happy to ditch ours, but after I heard that you went with it instead of those special vestments that Yen Sid and the three good fairies made, you'd stick with the thing forever," Roxas added, still slightly surprised by his best friend's new attire as well.

Lea just rolled his eyes a little, partly from hearing Sora refer to him as Axel again, and replied, "Hey, I wore that thing almost nonstop for like ten-plus years now, and the only reason I stuck with it after leaving the Organization was so I could throw it in the face of the old man and my former boss. Now that the fight's done and Xemnas is gone, I'm more than happy to ditch the damn thing. Besides, it was kinda starting to smell a little."

"You know, I never did ask, didn't you ever get hot in that thing," Ven inquired.

"I have magic powers that let me control fire in any way that I can imagine. I don't get hot," Lea pointed out.

The other three boys would give him that, but it was still surprising to see the new outfit that Lea was going with. Of course, it was still pretty similar to his Organization stylings, mainly because of how his long, sleeveless hooded vest was the same color of black as his old coat, but the rest of it did at least add in a little more color, which they were all grateful for. In addition to the vest, Lea also now wore a sleeveless dark grey and red plaid button-down shirt with a short-sleeve black shirt underneath, along with blackish-red pants, and black mid-calf boots. Sure the dark colors made it seem like he had just modified his old Organization clothes a little, but it was still nice to see him wearing something other than the stupid coat that so many of their enemies had worn.

The conversation about personal clothing choices aside, the trip was relatively peaceful, with Sora at the wheel most of the time, while the others explored the ship. Their explorations helped them to find that the ship had its own training room, and once they told Sora of this, he was more than eager to leave the ship on auto-pilot a little more so that he could join them for a few sparring sessions. It had been a long time since he had a real spar against something other than an imaginary opponent, and Sora was more than eager to put his training to the test against his friends. Still, there were moments in the journey that were more boring than they were exciting, even with the occasional round of having to fight against any of the Heartless that still remained after the Second Keyblade War.

One such moment came when they were in the last leg of their trip, almost four weeks after they had left Yen Sid's tower, but it was mostly in the case of Lea as he was seated up in the cockpit with Sora while Roxas and Ven were catching some shut eye so that they would be a little more well-rested upon their arrival. This would not be so bad for Lea, given that he did enjoy hanging out with Sora on occasion, were it not for the fact that there were no bad guys to blast with the ships weapons, and how Sora was so focused on flying the ship through the last stretch of their trip like he was expecting something to go wrong at any second.

"Are we there yet," Lea eventually asked in a sort of whiny tone, almost sounding like that one kid who would always ask that on every road trip with friends and/or family.

"No, we are not, Lea," Sora casually replied from his spot at the wheel.

The two fell silent once again, but only for a moment or two, when Lea spoke up again. "Well can we stop somewhere at least?"

"I told you before; if we keep going, we'll get there sooner, especially since we're practically right around the corner from this world now. Until then, we just wait," Sora explained as patiently as he had the last few times Lea had asked that question.

Lea merely huffed and crossed his arms in a childish manner, which would probably have gotten a laugh out of Roxas if he saw the redhead right then, and he fell quiet once more. For the next five minutes, anyway. "Are we there yet?"

"No," Sora replied like clockwork.

"…Are we there yet?"

"No."

"…How about now?"

"No." Sora had nearly growled it that time.

That seemed to silence Lea's sudden need to act childish, until he opened his mouth again. "Are we there yet, now?"

"No! I just told you that we'll get there, when we get there!"

"Hey now, don't go getting mad. Happy faces, remember," Lea teased with a grin.

"You're not gonna be getting very many of those from me if you keep asking me that question," Sora cautioned.

"Well then how about you just put it on autopilot and come with me to do some training in order to make the time go by a little faster," Lea requested, nay begged of the Kingdom Key wielder. He was that bored.

"Alright, fine," Sora sighed in defeat, knowing that denying the request would just give Axel more reason to continue his childish act. He probably would have held off on activating the auto-pilot and following after the tall redhead though, had he noticed the warning that was flashing on the control board.

**Warning: CPU overheating. Explosion imminent if autopilot is activated for an extended period of time. **

* * *

About an hour or so later, Sora and Lea had brought their training to an abrupt end when an explosion suddenly rang out through the ship, while sirens began blaring all over the ship. Rushing up to the main deck, they found Roxas and Ven had already woken from their naps and were already trying to figure out what had happened.

"What's going on," Lea and Sora both asked at once.

"The CPU overheated and caused something to explode," Roxas shouted over the alarm in response while checking the other systems. "We've lost a lot of weapons, main steering, a few shields…"

"Didn't you guys see the warning light flashing? It clearly said to not activate the autopilot for a long time," Ventus questioned before Roxas could get any further.

"Uh…whoops," Sora muttered, feeling a little responsible for that.

"Hey, don't get like that, Sora. This one's on me. I'm the one who was pestering you so much before," Lea tried to play off.

"It doesn't matter whose fault it is! We're still going to crash unless someone does something," Roxas shouted in near panic.

"Oh come on. What are the odds we're going to crash into something in the next few minutes," Lea questioned in an attempt to calm his best friend down.

Before any reply could be given, Sora glanced out the window of the ship to see something that was both good news and bad news. "Uh-oh," Sora muttered.

While the two blondes both looked to see what prompted Sora to say that, Lea just slumped his shoulders and said, "Don't tell me. We're coming up on the world we were heading for and are now likely to crash land on it."

"Yep," Sora confirmed.

"World's super huge, too, isn't it?"

"Looks like," Roxas replied to that question.

"Full of danger and possibly hostile natives?"

"Probably," Ventus guessed.

"Going to get sighted by said inhabitants unless we hurry up with activating that fancy cloaking device?"

"Oh yeah," Sora confirmed as he set to work doing just that.

"Landing site going to have a bunch of horrible monsters that we'll have to fight once we land, assuming we're still in one piece?"

"Most likely," everyone other than Lea replied as one.

Lea looked from the three boys to the world ahead of them before he closed his eyes, let out a deep sigh, opened them again, and took a step forward as he made a simple declaration. "Bring it on."

* * *

On the streets of Vale, a young woman in a black dress and a red cape with a hood was humming a certain tune to herself as she strolled down the sidewalk. She was trying to figure out where her older sister had gone off to, since she was supposed to be the girl's ride home, and somehow, she was not too surprised she ended up in one of the shadier parts of the city. Upon looking up at the starry sky while praying that her sister had not gotten into any kind of huge trouble again, the girl paused at the sight of something flickering in the sky for a minute, only to suddenly change into what looked a lot like a shooting star. Not thinking to question it for too long, the girl closed her silver eyes and made a silent wish before carrying on her way.

Not that she got too far afterwards before a sudden explosion from a nearby building made her stop short. Looking up, the girl could only watch as a man in a black and white business suit and red tie came flying out from one of many shattered windows, and dropped at her feet like a dead weight, where he let out a pained moan. Shortly after the unknown man who looked like either a small-time crime boss or a well-dressed thug, another individual dropped down, this one much more familiar to the silver eyed girl, even without recognizing the outfit and long blonde hair.

"Yang? Is that you," the girl questioned, just to make sure she was not seeing things.

"Oh," the blonde gasped as she stood up straight, her crimson eyes quickly changing to their natural lilac color as she smiled at the shorter girl. "Hey Sis!"

The silver-eyed girl just gave Yang a small look as she put her hands on her hips and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Yang glanced around at the recently demolished building she was just in, the fool on the ground who had dared to pull out some of her hair, and her little sister before she finally sighed and said, "It's a long story."

_'Of course it is,'_ was the tired thought that one Ruby Rose had upon hearing that.

* * *

Around that same time, Professor Ozpin was in his office going over various documents of paperwork that needed to be dealt with before the newest students of Beacon academy arrived, and the new school year started. It was one of the many things that Ozpin disliked about the job as headmaster of the school, but he did understand the necessity of it. At least, that was what he tried to tell himself most of the time. Other times, it just seemed like most of the work was unnecessary garbage. Really, if you had the potential, the drive, and the ability to be a huntsman, and the basic training that either various combat schools or other experiences provided, then that should be enough, should it not? Such thoughts could not be stopped from forming in his mind once again as he flipped through a few more documents on his Scroll any more than the silent sigh of relief he let out when someone entered his office, offering a brief respite from the bothersome task.

"Professor Ozpin, we've picked up on a disturbance in one of the nearby forests," reported his deputy headmistress and one of his most trusted allies, Glynda Goodwitch.

Hearing that, Ozpin quickly brought up the feeds from the many cameras he had in the forests surrounding both Beacon and Vale, until he finally found what he was looking for. Upon seeing the four boys that were slowly climbing out of what he could only assume was an invisible aircraft of some kind, Ozpin could not help the smile that formed on his face, but he did manage to make it look more knowing than excited at least. "Looks like our guests are here," the headmaster commented aloud.

"Sir," Glynda inquired in curiosity. Not for the first time either, mind you.

Ozpin did not give any kind of answer to alleviate her curiosity, but instead simply ordered, "Go to the forest at once. You should find four young boys there who will likely be fighting Grimm upon your arrival. They won't be hard to miss with or without their strange swords. Once you've met with them, bring them back here."

Glynda was not entirely sure why she was being asked to do this, but all the same, it was not like she had ever really argued too much with her boss before. She had felt like she had reason to on more than one occasion of course, but then again, knowing of Ozpin's level of experience, she was able to silence that feeling by reasoning that he likely knew better than her on more than a few matters. So, she walked out of the office without another word of question, while making a note to retrieve her riding crop along the way to the Bullhead that would fly her to the location that Ozpin had sent to her Scroll.

As she departed, Ozpin merely folded his hands in front of him while resting his elbows on his desk, and quietly muttered, "I know that it's selfish to think this, and that they are here for an entirely different reason, but I still can't help but wonder if one of them could be the one that can save her."

* * *

_**AN: Okay, so I'm sure you all picked up on the differences by now, but let me just go over them all to clarify them in a few bullet points. Yes, I did in fact keep a good number of the dialogue and story lines from the original Remnant of the Key in here, but I also felt like it needed to be expanded upon a little, hence the reason why it was written the way that it was here, as opposed to before. Also, since this is Post-KH3, I thought it only fitting that we include the Gummiphones and all other elements that came about after said game, like the fact that Namine, Ventus, Xion, and all the others were brought back, the beach party on Destiny Islands getting mentioned, and everything else in there.**_

_**Sora: Ahem. [throwing pointed look at author]**_

_**AN: What? [just looks back as Sora doesn't drop his pointed look] Oh would you relax? I'll get to that in a minute. Ahem, anyway, another thing that I'm sure some of you may have noticed is that I also combined the events of several of the first chapters into one. I just felt like the first chapter should be a little longer, and it would be better for the story if I didn't split things up into multiple smaller chapters like that. No offense to "FandomBard12", I'm sure that works great for you, but I just felt like it wouldn't work as well for me. I just can't stop myself from making these chapters a certain length.**_

_**Sora: Ahem. [still throwing his look at author]**_

_**AN: I said, I'm getting to it! Let me go over the stuff that's involved with this specific crossover first, boy! Ahem. Moving on, let's talk pairings for this story. I'm not going to be changing them around too much, but I do feel like I had to change it up at least a little. Don't worry, we'll still see RoseHeart (aka Sora&Ruby) happening, along with Goldenflame (Yang&Lea), but the pairings between Weiss&Roxas and Blake&Ventus will not be happening. I'm sure you figured that out from the fact that I mentioned Roxas and Xion were going out together now in the main story. I just like that pairing more than IceShell (Weis&Roxas), and honestly, I feel like Blacksun is one of RWBY's OTPs. And can you blame me? Blake and Sun have been tied together since Volume 1 of RWBY, maybe not as an official couple, but the chemistry is there, you can't deny that. Sorry for anyone who's of a different opinion if I've offended you in anyway. So yeah, Roxas&Xion are going to be a thing here, as is Blacksun. As for Ven...well, he's the one who's going to end up melting the Ice Queen's heart a little. I'm thinking of calling that pairing something like Windchill, or something.**_

_**Another change from the original version is that Sora and the others won't be completely cut off from their friends on other worlds while at Beacon, unless they choose to do so at any time. I mean, come on, they all have Gummiphones, a communication device that lets you talk to people even if they're on another world. Why would you want to cut yourself off from your friends if you have that? With that in mind, you should probably expect Sora and the gang to travel to another world at least once in the main story, and guess who will stumble upon the secret when they do go to another world?**_

_**Lea: I'm guessing that's why you made the gummi ship have a cloaking device on it, right?**_

_**AN: Pretty much, yeah. Better than letting the ship get completely destroyed from the start, and leaving you guys all stranded. Okay, that's the end of all the changes I've made from the original version of this story. At least in the case of the major stuff. Expect the first day/night at Beacon to go by in one chapter as well, and probably the Initiation as well. I'm not too sure about that one yet, but either way, I'll have gotten this caught up to the original version pretty quickly with the way I'm writing it.**_

_**Now to address the matters that Sora's so insistent on talking about: the changes from KH Canon.**_

_**Sora: Finally! We can talk about the fact that you basically killed Kairi!**_

_**AN: Did not! Kairi's not dead, she was just sent to somewhere on Remnant. And before anyone asks, NO Kairi's not one of the members of Team RWBY, or any of the other students, so get that idea out of your heads right now! Don't deny it! I know you were all thinking it! And please, remember that when you write your reviews. Anywho, I just want to clear up a few other changes that happened to the KH3 Canon here. 1) Kairi actually did put up a real fight as a competent warrior. Meaning she showed that she actually did get real training and not whatever crap it seems like she and Lea got in the game's story, and as such, she did not get kidnapped yet again. Seriously Square Enix, when you build up a character like you had Kairi for Kingdom Hearts 3, you DO NOT go and then make her seem unimportant before just dropping her back into the role they've had since the first game!**_

_**Weiss: Okay. Just calm down.**_

_**AN: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just...that's still a sore spot for me. I can't help but rant on it sometimes. [deep breath] Okay, anyways, Kairi proved to be a competent fighter, stopped Xemnas from kidnapping her again, and was right there with Riku, Mickey, and Sora when they faced off with the three sides of Xehanort, aka Ansem, Xemnas, and Young Xehanort (may he rot in hell for eternity, the smug little punk). Anyone else still want to tear that smirk off of Young Xehanort's face, even after clearing the entirety of the main story in KH3? Be honest with me, how many people still want to do that besides me? Ahem, sorry. A little off topic. Anyways, Point number 2: Kairi was there with her two best friends and Mickey during that fight, only to end up getting struck down by Master Xehanort when he actually joined the fray afterwards, striking at them when they were all still tired from fighting against three powerful opponents at once. Also a change, Kairi actually tried to fight back before Xehanort struck her down, so there was no recreation of a certain moment from Final Fantasy 7 here. After that, things unfolded like they did in canon for a bit (Xehanort gets the x-blade, the other Guardians of Light open a portal that lets Sora, Donald, and Goofy chase after him into Kingdom Hearts, yadda-yadda-yadda), until after the fight is over and Kingdom Hearts was sealed. This leads into change 3: Instead of using the power of waking to get Kairi back, Sora collapsed from exhaustion and didn't wake up again for a while, I'd say at least a week if you want an exact measurement of time. As a result, using that ability now would have likely resulted in losing both of them forever, Yen Sid bascially forbade Sora from trying, and that created a lot of tension between the two, and made Sora basically close himself off to the rest of the world, even though Yen Sid promised to try and find a way to bring back Kairi without that risk.**_

_**Blake: Wouldn't they have needed Kairi to come back in order for Namine to be brought back?**_

_**AN: You know, I'm not entirely sure. They weren't really all that clear on whether or not Kairi and Sora had returned before Namine was revived, but for the sake of this story, I'm gonna say that no, they did not need to do that. I mean, it certainly didn't seem like it was necessary from what that epilogue implied.**_

_**Anyways, now you know the bullet points on the changes that were made to KH3's story for the sake of this story. I mean, how else am I gonna make Sora available to be paired up with Ruby? And after how things between him and Kairi unfolded in KH3? You don't go and mess with a moment like that without being 100% against Sokai. That's part of what's going to make this a little challenging for me to write, considering I'm a die-hard Sokai fan. That doesn't mean I don't like a story or two where Sora's paired up with other girls, but if you were to look at the list of stories I've favorited on this site, you would find that a lot of the Kingdom Hearts stories do have that pairing, be it as a focus point or as something that's just mentioned. Don't worry though, like I said, Sora and Ruby will still happen in this story, even if Sora does find Kairi again. You'll see what happens later on when that does happen, but that won't be for quite a long time.**_

_**Roxas: Speaking Ruby, I couldn't help but notice that you worked in a certain scene that wasn't originally in the previous version of Remnant of the Key.**_

_**AN: Oh yeah. I know that may seem like an unnecessary filler thing to some, but I really wanted to at least introduce Ruby as soon as possible in this story. That seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so. They never really give an exact time stamp from when that moment happened and when the first episode of RWBY took place, so I'm just gonna operate under the assumption that, in this case, it happened a week before said events. Now then, I think that's everything I wanted to mention. Let's move it along and go Onto the Preview!...**_

**_After their first encounter with the creatures of Grimm, Sora and company find themselves being acquainted with both Goodwitch and Ozpin at last. But their first meetings don't end there, as in one week's time, the group are soon on the doorstep of Beacon Academy, and meeting quite the colorful individuals, starting from the moment that Sora ends up witness to a certain explosive encounter. Just what else could be in store for the Keybearers at this prestigious school for the future defenders of Remnant? And what encounters await them in the first day at this new school? The shinning beacon will light the way forward, next time._**

**_Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy._**


	2. The Shining Beacon

**_AN: Yeah, believe it or not, the second chapter of this story is already up and out there, so welcome back one and all, to Remnant of the Key!_**

**_[audience applause]_**

**_Yeah, I want to get this story up to the point where the original version had left off as quickly as possible, but another reason why I've worked so hard to get this newest chapter out is because, quite frankly, I've had a lot of RWBY & Kingdom Hearts stuff on my mind lately. Hence part of the reason why I started up RWBY Meetings, and part of the reason why I've recently worked to update at least one or two of my Kingdom Hearts stories. Now that I've got this one going, is it really that much of a surprise that I'd be working as much as I could to get this story well rolling?_**

**_Ruby: Not at all, if you ask me. Plus, I'm really excited about this chapter. Our side of the story gets featured a lot more today, and I finally get to meet Sora and his pals!_**

**_Sora: Hey, you're not the only one from your world that we meet here, Ruby. I mean, we do get to meet a lot of the others too._**

**_Yang: Well yeah, but given how this chapter is set up, it looks like Ruby is the most important person to meet today._**

**_AN: Okay, okay. You guys can discuss the levels of importance that each character meeting has at another time. Right now, I've got some reviews to answer before we move along._**

**_First off, "Dracus6", I just said at the end of the last chapter that Ven&Weiss were going to be a thing, and that Roxas was dating Xion in this story. Didn't you read that in the ending note? I mean, I did make it a point to mention stuff like that, so it kinda hurts that it seems like you ignored me there, dude._**

**_Next up is our old friend "Monkey D. Conan". It's a little hard for me to really give an exact estimate on how long we'll be dealing with, as you put it, "Bitter Sora", but don't worry. He won't be staying that way for too long, and there will be a good number of moments where we see some of good old Classic Sora coming out. Though it will mostly be around a certain individual or two, if you get what I mean. (wink-wink)._**

**_Now, "Lucien - Herald of Oddity", yes, Lea is going to be a student at Beacon, and I get that setting him up as Yang's love interest might be a little weird, but saying that he's like 30-something? I feel like that's either an exaggeration or an overestimation on his age. I mean, he looked like he was close to the same age as Ventus when he showed up in Birth By Sleep, and if he was really made a Nobody like a year later when Xehanort started the next step of his big, overcomplicated master plan, then he would have only been a year older. Technically speaking, in that case, he'd only be like twenty-something, but I doubt that he really counts the years that passed during his time as Axel as part of his life as Lea. Besides, this does have a few AU elements to it, so...yeah, gotta keep that in mind._**

**_Blake: You seem to do that a lot with your Kingdom Hearts stories._**

**_AN: Well it can't really be helped in this case, even if I did follow KH3's canon story line to the letter. It'd still be an AU even at this point, seeing as KH4 will likely have a much different plot to it from anything that any of us can think of._**

**_Moving on, "Hamm1999", I will try to work in a few of Disney's running gags, if I can, but I'm not sure what you're referring to when you mention a Stan Lee cameo. Are you talking about something in one of my stories, or in regards to something you were expecting in Kingdom Hearts 3? Just wondering about that._**

**_"Dragon Rider 66", my man. I know it's a little surprising to see me starting a story like this when we're this close to the release of Volume 7, but keep in mind, this is starting from the very beginning of RWBY, so I'd say I've still got plenty of time to work my way up to that point. Now, regarding your question about abilities and equipment that our main focus team will have, I will say that you'll get a sample of what they can do here in today's chapter, and I'll go into a bit more detail about all of that in the ending note as well. And yes, I do already have something in mind for Oscar. In fact, you may even see a little preview of what I have in mind for him a bit later on in this story._**

**_Finally, rounding it down to "CT7567Rules", in regards to your question about my cover art, I make 'em all myself with a little bit of Photoshop magic. Not always as easy as it sounds, let me tell you right now. Trust me._**

**_Also, for those of you who had thoughts about Kairi fusing with Ruby, or any other characters, I suppose I was not all that clear last chapter when I said that Kairi was not going to be any of the RWBY characters. Kairi's not going to be fusing or having her heart take refuge inside of anyone from Remnant. She's still going to be herself. There will be no Kairi literally ending up inside of someone else's heart this time. That's not going to be a thing in this story._**

**_Weiss: Well can you blame them for thinking that? I mean, it does seem like a reasonable excuse for why Sora would end up eventually falling for Ruby. Even if he doesn't officially admit it until around the time of..._**

**_AN: DAH! SPOILER! [hits the button]_**

**_Sora: Oh no, here we go. It's like every story he ends up doing this._**

**_Weiss: Doing what? [suddenly gets blasted by several freeze rays until she's stuck in a thick block of ice]_**

**_Yang: Hey, check it out. The ice queen has been stopped cold._**

**_AN: You know, that one's actually not bad._**

**_Yang: Thanks._**

**_AN: Okay, so while we wait for that ice holding Weiss to thaw, or for her to just make it melt in an instant with her temper, let's rock and roll with the next chapter!_**

**_I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story._**

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Shinning Beacon**

In all of his time in the Organization, the one thing that Lea had wanted to do was not have his peaceful sleep disturbed. Obviously that never happened, considering how tight of a ship Saïx and Xemnas ran in that accursed castle. After he came back as a normal person again, he knew that he was still going to have that problem when he went to go and learn how to use a Keyblade, but he was not complaining about it that much. He was willing to do anything to get his best friends back, even if he did not really remember one of them at the time. Now, with all the fighting done, he felt like he could be left to sleep in peace without any trouble at all. So he really had to wonder why someone was trying to wake him up when all he wanted to do right now was stay in dreamland.

"Axel…Axel! Come on, Axel, wake up," a familiar voice called out, and the tall redhead slowly opened his eyes.

"Ven," Lea asked, mainly because his vision was still a little blurred from having just woken up. "I thought you said you weren't going to call me that."

"Guess again, buddy. It's Roxas," the blonde blur corrected.

"Roxas," Lea repeated as his vision finally cleared up enough for him to see that it was indeed the former Number XIII of the old Organization standing over him. "Oh, right. No shoulder armor. Sorry."

"Hey, there are plenty of other differences between me and Ven," Roxas retorted. "For example, my jacket is all white with a bit of a checker pattern, while Ven's is half white and half black, split down the middle."

"Yeah well, the shoulder armor is the more noticeable difference between you two. Everyone thinks so," Lea teased, getting a small shove from his good buddy in return for the remark.

"Come on, wise guy. Sora and Ven need some help with checking over the ship. Gotta make sure we can still fly the thing before we send out a distress signal after all," Roxas informed the former Flurry of Dancing Flames.

Lea nodded in return and then followed Roxas out of the slight ruined cockpit. The room was not too badly messed up of course, but there were a few consoles that had been left in disarray from the crash, and some were even sparking a little. They both made a point to avoid the areas that the electric flashes were coming from the most, and moving through the ship's hallways showed that the rest of the ship was not too bad off either. There was not too much rubble blocking pathways, and only a few walls had been broken open so that wires could hang out from them. When the two best friends finally found their way to the main hatch and outside, they quickly spotted Sora and Ventus looking over any areas of the ship that were not currently hidden by the cloaking device for one reason or another. Those spots did not stay in view for long, because the minute that Sora had finished his work in one spot, the area in question quickly disappeared behind the cloak soon after.

Looking over to the hatch, Ventus immediately waved to the two with a smile that many would describe as Sora-like, prompting the two to join up with the other half of their group. "Glad to see you're okay, Lea," Ven greeted once the two had joined him.

"Wish I could say the same about the ship," Lea half-joked in return. "Just how bad is it?"

"Not as bad as it could've been, but it still could be better," Sora reported. Being the only one in the group who had traveled between worlds on gummi ships most, the other three were more than willing to defer to Sora's expertise on this matter. Said expertise was very considerable, given that Sora actually took some time at one point on his first journey to talk with Cid about all things relating to gummi blocks. He may not be as big of an expert as the gummi block engineer in question, but Sora was still good enough to make the assessments that they needed here. "Primary steering was completely shot after the computer overheated, along with the secondary engines, but both shouldn't take too long to fix, especially since this ship is equipped with a self-repair gummi. Luckily the cloak was only damaged in a few areas after we scraped some of the trees on the way down, which is a pretty easy to fix even for Donald or Goofy."

"And what's the bad news," Roxas inquired.

"Well, our crash-landing caused some damage to one or two of the main engines, and a lot of the other systems we would need to leave a world. Those will take weeks to repair, and even then, we won't be able to use the warp gummi for at least another week after that," Sora revealed.

"So basically, we can't get flying again, and even when we do, we'll have to travel to other worlds the old fashioned way," Lea simplified.

"Pretty much; yeah," Sora confirmed. "Just be glad that all of the ship's map data on the highways that were recently opened and locations of various worlds is still intact, otherwise it wouldn't have mattered at all if the warp gummi was damaged or not."

"At least it can't get much worse," Ventus shrugged, trying to look on the bright side of things.

Not even seconds later, a low growling sound was heard from somewhere behind him, followed by another, and another, and more still, indicating that the four were not alone in these woods. When they each turned to the sources of those growls, the first thing that the group saw were vicious looking red eyes glaring back, followed by a horrific sight that made many of the Heartless look tame in comparison. Coming out from the shadows of the trees was a pack of what they could most closely describe as wolves, even though most of them were standing upright on their hind legs, all of which had bone-like armor on their bodies, along with horrifying masks with red markings around the eyes. What really spooked the four was that these things gave off a feeling similar to that of the Heartless, and yet at the same time, they felt just as empty as Nobodies.

These snarling wolf creatures continued their low growling as they closed in on the four, circling them a little like hungry animals that were ready to pounce on their prey at any moment. That was probably a very apt metaphor, given the group's situation, because they definitely felt like prey right now, but no true Keyblade wielder would ever go down without a fight, and these four were no different. Proof of this came in the fact that they had all summoned forth their Keyblades and assumed their battle stances so that they could either strike or defend at a moment's notice, but that did not seem to bother the monsters too much, as they just kept growling, and in some cases even barking at the four boys.

Seeing how their situation had taken a turn for the worse, Lea could not help but look over at the blonde he had first met years ago in Radiant Garden and comment, "You just had to say it, didn't you?"

As Ventus shrugged in apology, the group noticed that a few more similar creatures began joining the wolf monsters. The only difference was the kind of animal that the creatures took after. Most of the new arrivals looked like vicious boars, while the others could be compared to a menacing bear, but the one thing that they all had in common was that they all gave off the same feeling as the wolf monsters: the menacing, darkness of a Heartless mixed together with the emptiness of a Nobody. Seeing all of these different types of the same monster surrounding them, with all of the creatures giving off that same terrifying feeling definitely put the boys on edge, and they could not help moving until they were all practically standing back-to-back with one another, while keeping themselves positioned between the ship and the creatures. Their stare down with the monsters continued for a few more, very tense minutes, until finally, Sora decided to take action and attack.

Waving his Keyblade as he cast an ice spell, Sora not only caused some of the monsters to become frozen in ice, but also created a short ice path towards them. He immediately jumped onto said path, and his body then lit up with the blue aura of his Flowmotion powers as he slid along the ice. When he came to the end, he allowed his Flowmotion to launch him into the air, where he then built up a charge of the power into his Keyblade, enabling him to unleash a powerful shockwave when he next struck the ground. He did not stop there though, as he immediately cast a quick blast of Firaga while rolling to the side, incinerating the boar-like monsters when the fireball when he did. Upon coming out of the roll, Sora quickly spun around and raised his Keyblade high into the air to call down a rain of lightning bolts via Thundaga. His spell easily struck multiple targets, most of them the monster wolves, and a few being the monster bears, and even still, Sora did not stop moving for a minute as he charged forward to unleash some more basic, yet still strong slashing attacks.

The other three boys just stared in awe of what Sora had just pulled off, having never really taken the time to see Sora in action before now. Sure, they had more than a few chances, but a good majority of those times were moments when they were all fighting for their lives against Xehanort's thirteen Seekers of Darkness during the Second Keyblade War, so they could not really stop and take note of very much. Either way, they were not about to let Sora take all the fun for himself, and Ventus proved that when he rushed forward to cut down a monster wolf when it was close to getting the drop on Sora. One impressive display of speed and athletic agility later, and Ventus had managed to slash through multiple different monsters all on his own, showing that he was practically back to the strength level he held before he fell into his deep, comatose-like slumber. At one point, he even gained the chance to unleash his old Command Style, Fever Pitch, and used its power to tear apart several of the bear-like beasts, but it did end up leaving him a little more tired than he remembered being after using the ability all those years ago.

Luckily, Ventus was not the only one who could help out in the fight, as Lea proved when he transformed Flame Liberator into his old chakrams and tossed them through several of the monster boars. When the spiked, flaming disks returned to his hands again, they returned to Keyblade-form and Lea was rushing off into battle once again. Despite not having a Keyblade as long as the rest of his friends, Lea was still pretty good, as evidenced by the combos he performed that would see him spinning the blade around while in-hand, but it was that did not make it any less clear that he was still getting used to fighting with it as opposed to his old weapons. That was not to say that Lea was a terrible swordsman, but he could certainly stand to improve in that area quite a bit, as shown when a few of the boar-monsters slipped past his guard and rammed their large tusks into his exposed side more than once.

Thankfully, Roxas was not about to let his best friend go it alone, and his skill wielding two Keyblades had not dulled in the slightest. All of the powers he had used in the fight against Isa were still as strong as ever, and he made it a point to pay back the boars that attacked Lea by cutting them down with both Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Afterwards, it was just a simple matter of tearing through any other monsters that dared to approach him with his impressive display of rapid sword swings and strikes, and he would often times even use his old powers over light to infuse the blades with extra power so that he could add an extra flare to his attacks. If he were to look over at where Roxas was fighting, Sora would have seen that some of that flare that was added made Roxas's attacks look very similar to attacks that he had to contend with when they fought near the end of his second journey. They were not the exact same attacks, but still, it was pretty close, and a part of Sora could not help but hope he would not be on the receiving end of those attacks again anytime soon.

You would think that with all of these impressive abilities and skills at their command, the boys would be able to fight off their surprise attackers, but unfortunately, the creatures seemed to keep coming in an endless number of waves. Once you factored in how their recent crash-landing had left some of them a little rattled or disoriented, and it came as no surprise that the four started to tire pretty quickly. They held their own for a good while though, you had to give them that, but in the end, they were still left struggling to at least stand with their Keyblades held in defensive positions, as if to try and scare off the creatures.

While scare tactics ended up proving futile against these beasts, something else worked a lot better, because a minute later, something seemed to blast several of the creatures away from the boys. Another bunch was soon blasted away soon after, followed by another, until finally, a path between the pack of monsters was formed, allowing a blonde haired woman in a fancy outfit, glasses, and a short cape that was black on the outside and purple on the inside to step through to them. When the monsters tried to rush her, she merely waved a riding crop in their direction, and the monsters were easily blasted back. A few more waves of said riding crop, and the monsters were all either chased away or crushed by some unseen force, leaving only her and the three boys that were not native to this world.

The blonde woman took a moment to stare the four down in silence, before she finally adjusted her glasses and said, "Unless you four wish to fight off anymore Grimm, I suggest you come with me right now."

It did not even seem necessary for the four to exchange a few looks between one another before they realized that her offer was their best and only option at the moment. Besides, the gummi ship could fix the remaining damage by itself, and they would always be able to find again easily enough with the tracking system on their Gummiphones, so why argue? Especially when the woman asking them to follow her did not seem like someone with a lot of patience right now. "Whatever you say, sweetheart," Lea smirked to the blonde.

That would have been the wrong thing to say in any circumstance, but somehow, none of the other three were surprised that Lea went and said it anyway. Even less surprising was the fact that their apparent rescuer just narrowed her eyes a little more at their tall friend and seemed to grip the riding crop a little more tightly, as if doing so would either restrain her from using it on him like she had these Grimm, as she called them. Either that or it was a sign that she was already starting to consider doing so, and none of the boys were too eager to find out which was more likely.

* * *

"I hope you all understand how much trouble you're in," the blonde woman informed the boys when they were all gathered in a small, dimly lit room a few hours later.

Sora could not help but roll his eyes a bit in response to this. The woman had been pacing around the room before them practically since they had arrived at their destination in the city. For some reason, she saw it fit to bring them to the nearest city's police station, and Sora could only figure that it was because their crash-landing had caused them to either trespass on private property or they had ended up hurting someone without meaning to. The latter seemed much less likely, since Sora had made certain that they would avoid any populated areas as best as he could when the ship crashed down, so he had to figure that it was the former. Still, he did his best to keep in any snarky remark he could have made, and he was really tempted to make more than a few.

Lea on the other hand showed no such restraint, and was quick to challenge her. "How much trouble we're in? What exactly did we even do other than fight for our very lives against a pack of hungry, vicious monsters?"

"And crash-landing in the middle of a forest," Roxas added on.

"Oh yeah. Can't forget about that," Lea nodded.

"Another thing you shouldn't forget about is that none of you even have a license to pilot any variety of aircraft, and that alone would be enough to land you in trouble, without the fact that you were in an area that was flagged as off-limits to normal civilians," the blonde cut in as she continued looking over something on the device she held in her hands.

"Hey, I've never needed a license to fly a ship before," Sora protested, no longer able to keep silent.

"Well it's a much different story in Vale and the other kingdoms than it is where you come from," the blonde easily shot back. "If it were up to me, you would all be sent home with much more than a slap on the wrist."

"Hate to break it to ya, lady, but we wouldn't be going home even if that was the case. We've got a job to do, and part of it involves finding a few people that are supposed to be around here somewhere," Lea informed her with a smug, challenging look.

"Then I'd say your search for at least one of those people is over, young man," a new voice chimed in, turning all attention to the door, just in time to see a man with silver hair in a black suit and green scarf stepping in, with a mug of coffee in one hand, and a silver and black cane in the other. "Now, which one of you is Sora Hikari?"

The four boys were all quiet upon hearing that question, at least until the wielder of Kingdom Key raised his hand in reply. "Uh…That would be me."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance at last, young man," the silver haired man nodded in return as he took a seat opposite from the boys. He paused in his sitting down all the way though, as he felt the need to lean in a little closer to examine Sora a bit better. "You…have a very interesting spark in your eyes," the man finally murmured after a second or two.

"Um…Thank you," Sora hesitantly replied, not sure if that was a compliment or not.

The man was about to speak again when Lea cut him off. "Wait, hold on a minute. Your last name is Hikari?"

"Yeah. What did you think it was," Sora asked in return.

"Uh…I don't really know. To be honest, I had started to think you didn't even have a last name at all a while back," Lea admitted.

"Seriously," Sora deadpanned. The taller boy merely shrugged in reply, prompting Sora to ask, "Well then what's your last name?"

Lea seemed to stiffen up a little when that question was asked, and ended up just muttering the answer under his breath, too low for anyone to hear. "What was that," Ventus asked.

"Fi-er-bran…" Lea coughed, the word still coming through unclearly.

"Excuse me," Sora questioned, while everyone else just looked at Lea weirdly.

Seeing that there was no way out of it, Lea sighed in defeat and said, "It's Firebrand, okay? My full name is Lea Firebrand."

"Your last name's Firebrand," Sora could not help chuckle, and it seemed that Ventus and Roxas were right there with him in the humor.

"Yeah, yeah. The guy who can control fire has a last name like Firebrand. The irony is not lost on me," Lea grumbled in response to the laughter.

"I don't know if that's irony, Lea. If anything, it just sounds so appropriate that it's making me think you came up with it yourself," Ventus joked.

That got Roxas to laugh a little harder, and his laughter made Lea turn a slightly cross look on him. "Laugh it up, Zombie-boy," Lea stated.

A slight cough from the most recent arrival brought everyone back to the matter at hand before Roxas could give any retort, and allowed the man in question to continue from where he left off. "As I was saying, I'm glad to see that the four of you arrived with minimal difficulties, save for the fact that your ship had crashed down. I do hope that it wasn't too badly damaged. After all, Yen Sid went to a lot of trouble to get it for you."

"You know Master Yen Sid," Ventus asked. "You're the friend that we were supposed to meet with?"

"Of course. We go quite a ways back, he and I," the man proudly proclaimed. When he saw the unsure looks that the boys adopted afterwards, he could not help but feel curious. "Is something the matter?"

"No, it's just that…Well…" Roxas attempted to find the nicest way to put it, but in the end, proved unsuccessful, so he just let Lea blurt it out.

"You look a lot younger than we thought you'd be," Lea stated. After getting an elbow from Ventus, he quickly added, "No offense."

"None taken, Mister Firebrand," the man happily replied. "Though I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy."

"Nice to meet you, Professor," Sora nodded on behalf of the group, though it was clear he was still skeptical of Ozpin's claims. You could not blame him though, after all the times that he had been duped by Xehanort and his ilk, anyone would be a little hesitant to believe very much. "How exactly did you know we were coming, anyway?"

Ozpin smiled upon hearing that, showing that he probably anticipated that question, and produced a small hand mirror from his jacket. Looking at the object, Sora could not help but think back to a similar mirror he had once seen at the Beast's castle, but that did not stop him from wondering the same thing as the others. 'What's up with the mirror,' was the basic thought of everyone present, save for Ozpin.

"This mirror is an enchanted object that Yen Sid gifted to me many years ago when we first met. It was at that same time that he told me all about the other worlds, the wielders of the Keyblade, and so much more, and thanks to this very same mirror, he was able to inform me of the situation that brought you all here," Ozpin explained, likely having seen the question on everyone's faces.

"Wait, you mean, you know about all that? About us," Roxas asked in surprise.

His only reply was a simple nod, while Ozpin's smile continued to remain as it had been since he walked in. Ozpin's associate on the other hand did not stay nearly as quiet. "Professor Ozpin, what you're saying is insane. These children couldn't possibly be from another world, and besides that, travel to other worlds is impossible on Remnant," the blonde woman protested.

"Just because it's impossible for you, doesn't mean that others can't do it," Sora retorted before Ozpin could say anything to calm the woman down a little. Standing up from where he sat, Sora held out his hand and summoned forth the Keyblade, surprising the blonde a little. She had seen each of the various different versions of the weapon that these boys were using earlier, but she did not see where they had stowed them after the fight was over. Seeing it suddenly appear in Sora's hand like it had definitely served as quite the shock to her. "This is called the Keyblade. One of many different versions of it, actually, and my friends and I all use one of our own."

"Technically I use two, but the point still stands," Roxas interrupted before waving for Sora to continue.

"With its power, we can open or close any lock, cast powerful magic, and even reach other worlds by opening special gates. It's not something that just anyone can use though, because the Keyblade chooses those who are worthy to wield it, and even then, one must have had the power to wield a Keyblade passed onto them from a master, but it's not a burden that's easily bared by the wielder who is chosen," Sora finished from what he was saying before.

Having said his piece, the wielder of Kingdom Key dismissed his weapon and resumed his seat, leaving the blonde woman in a state of shock to the point of being utterly flabbergasted. In fact, she was so stunned that her previously passive look had fallen completely to be replaced by one of silent, wide-eyed disbelief. It started to make everyone else in the room think that Sora's explanation had caused her brain to shut down when she remained silent for several more moments, until she finally shook her head and found enough of her voice to start unloading a barrage of questions.

"How is it possible that you four could have such a weapon? Is it something to do with your Aura? Or maybe your Semblances? How do those weapons even work," the woman began to question, and from where the four boys were sitting it seemed like she was also trying to hold on to some sense of what was normal for her as she attempted to explain away what she just saw and heard.

"Now, now, Glynda. Try not to overwhelm the boys," Ozpin advised in an attempt to calm her down. He looked back to the four and explained, "I feel I should apologize for her. This is the first time that Professor Goodwitch been exposed to even a little bit of the extraordinary world of Keyblades and their wielders."

"No worries. Trust us; we deal with that a lot more than you'd probably think. Got it memorized," Lea reassured, capping it off with his catchphrase and the gesture that always went with it.

While it seemed that Ozpin found that remark a little amusing, Sora had to ask about something that Glynda had brought up in her questions. "What's Aura, anyway? Or Semblances for that matter?"

"Aura is a mystical power that all people on Remnant possess, which can help to heal wounds and protect them from major harm. Semblances are mystical abilities that are unique to a person who has had their Aura unlocked to that extent, and while some are similar to one another, two semblances can still be as different from each other as two people are," Ozpin explained, sounding very much like the teacher he claimed to be. "Not everyone can use their Aura to this extent though, as one must have it unlocked in order to perform all of these feats, and the only way to do that, is for someone who's already had their Aura activated perform a special type of ritual for them. The one common thing you'll find among most people who have had their Auras activated is that they are typically the defenders of our world. We call them huntsmen and huntresses."

"Cool," Ventus and Roxas both breathed in awe upon hearing that.

"Got that memorized," Lea noted to himself, already making a few plans to see if he could get his Aura unlocked.

"Now then, aside from that brief lesson about our world, just what is it you four boys would like to do here on Remnant," Ozpin asked. When the group gave him questioning looks, he easily answered, "Yen Sid did explain to me what he wanted you to do while you are here, but I want to hear what it is that you want from your time on our world."

Lea, Roxas, and Ventus all stayed silent after hearing that question. Admittedly, the only reason that they were here was because they wanted to help Sora and maybe even get stronger as Keyblade wielders. Anything more than that was something that was up to the boy in question, so it was no surprise that they all turned to him to see how he would answer. Not that Sora had a problem with doing so. "We're here to find a lost friend of ours. Someone very important, not just to us, but to all of our other friends and all the worlds as well. Beyond that, we…I want to get stronger."

Hearing that last bit easily told Ozpin that Sora was speaking on his own behalf more than the others at the end, but from what he could see, they did feel the same way. Still, he had to be sure of a few other things regarding Sora himself. "You want to be a better Keyblade wielder?"

"As a starting point," Sora confirmed, his expression maintaining its serious appearance. It never changed as he continued on, but they could all feel a very clear heaviness in his voice as he spoke, and it only seemed to grow a little more at certain points. "I know that we've all grown quite a bit since we first became Keyblade wielders, and that I've gotten stronger since it happened, but despite all the power and skill I had, I couldn't…I couldn't save her. I don't want to be too weak to help my friends again, to watch as they get hurt right in front of me. I know it's impossible to stop it from happening at all, but if there's any chance that I can save them by getting better, or stronger, or more capable, then I need to take it so I can keep them all safe."

Everyone was silent upon hearing this short speech. Even Goodwitch seemed a little moved by Sora's words, having since regained her usual demeanor, but it was Ozpin's reaction that the Keybearers were more focused on. "Well Sora, if that's really what you wish for, then I have a question for you. Do you want to come to my school?"

Naturally, Sora and his friends were a little confused by that, and it was even less of a surprise that Sora would reply with a question of his own. "How would going to a school help us find Kairi or get stronger in anyway?"

"Beacon Academy is not just any school, Sora. It is a school to train future generations of Huntsmen and Huntresses. I have a feeling that is another reason why Yen Sid sent you all here; because he believes that you all would benefit a great deal from attending such a school, whether it be for the full four years of study, or otherwise. Not surprising really, considering that some of the greatest and bravest of Huntsmen have graduated from Beacon, including one particular group known as Team STRQ, I'm proud to say. So, what do you say?"

For the second time that day, the four did not even need to exchange the glances they did to know that they were all thinking the same thing. "Yeah, we'd like to give it a shot," Sora replied with a ghost of a smile that was very similar to his usual one.

Ozpin smiled in return, happy to hear that response, and said, "Okay then. We'll just need to set up a few records for the four of you so that we won't be disrupting the world order too greatly. I've already done most of that, but there is still the matter of filling out a specific part of the entrance forms for two of you: the last names of your friends Roxas and Ventus."

Sora and Lea both froze up a little when they heard that, partly because neither of them even knew if Ventus had a last name, but mainly because of how that pertained to Roxas. Since he was technically a Nobody when he first came to be, Roxas did not even have a last name, as far as anyone knew. Last Sora checked, none of the Nobodies who had joined the original Organization XIII had last names beyond their titles, but none of them were sure if they should mention any of that to Ozpin, even if he was an old friend of Yen Sid's. So, that left them with two options: on one hand, they could give Roxas either Ven or Sora's last name and say that he was related to one of them. That did seem reasonably realistic, more so in the case of Ventus than Sora, but at the same time, Roxas had always been very insistent on the fact that he was his own person, completely separate from Sora or Ventus, so they did not think the former Key of Destiny would go for that. So, that left them with the second option, which ended up being the one that Roxas chose on his own before any of them could say anything.

"My last name is Sheru. Roxas Sheru," the former Number XIII of the original Organization answered.

Seeing that Roxas had now taken any decision about how to address the matter of his last name out of their hands, Ventus mentally shrugged before giving his last name to the headmaster of Beacon. "Mine's Kunsanagi."

"Roxas Sheru and Ventus Kunsanagi," Ozpin repeated as he typed the information down on his own tablet device with a nod. He then looked to the boys and said, "Glynda will show you to a hotel that you four can stay at until the airships transporting new students to Beacon depart in two week's time. I'd suggest that you use that time to study up on the world of Remnant if I were you, or at the very least, on everything that would be considered as basic information."

Glynda nodded to show that she understood Ozpin's orders before retrieving her own tablet device again and saying, "I'll send a copy of such information to each of your Scrolls along with a list of various books and information sites that you can look up to study anything more. It would be in your best interest to do as Professor Ozpin says, given that such basic information is not likely to be covered too heavily in class while you're attending Beacon." She paused in her typing when she noticed that Ventus had his hand raised like a student wanting to ask a question. "Yes Mister Kunsanagi?"

"Um…What's a Scroll? Because I'm pretty sure that the kind you're thinking about is not the same as what any of us are used to thinking about," the blonde asked.

While Goodwitch just blinked in disbelief of the boy's question, Ozpin set his cane aside so he could lightly smack himself in the forehead before saying, "I knew I had forgotten about something." He then reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out for small, white devices similar to the ones that he and Glynda used, before passing them out to the boys before him. The only difference between said devices was the color of the diamond in the center of them. Sora's being silver, Roxas's blue, Ven's green, and Lea's red. "You'll need these for your time here on Remnant. These Scrolls serve many purposes, so I'd suggest you learn how to use them as quickly as possible, given that everyone else will know such information as well."

"Right," Sora nodded as he accepted his Scroll. "Uh, can one of you help me with that? I can't really do…technology that well."

Ozpin merely let out a chuckle while Glynda muttered something under her breath that sounded like one of her usual complaints about teenagers as she moved to explain all the various functions of the handheld device to its new owner. Seeing that his deputy headmistress had things well in hand here, Ozpin decided to take his leave, wishing a fond farewell to the boys as he did, and thinking that Yen Sid may have been right to be worried about Sora when they spoke earlier. All the same, he had a feeling that there may still be something waiting here that could help bring back the Keyblade hero that his old friend had spoken so highly of in the past. It was now just a matter of finding it.

* * *

About two weeks later, the boys were all caught up on all the matters that were considered common knowledge on Remnant, at least to the point where they would not stick out to any grand extreme, and after using the remaining free time they had to explore the city of Vale a little, they found themselves aboard an airship to Beacon. They kept to themselves for most of the flight, even as other new students came aboard and began mingling, but they could all definitely feel the buzz of excitement that permeated the air around them. Ventus and Roxas even noticed that a few people were greeting others like they were old friends, and figured that those folks knew each other from another school or were old classmates reuniting after whatever counted as summer break here. Lea on the other hand was keeping an eye out for anyone that seemed especially noteworthy, while simultaneously listening to the news report that was playing as the ship flew to its destination. When he saw the mug shot of a wanted criminal named Roman Torchwick, he immediately filed it away for later, thinking that it would be someone that he and the others would meet some time in the near future. After all, Sora had a tendency to run into bad guys on every world he visited, and since the same could be said for both Roxas and Ventus, Lea was all the more certain that they would meet the guy soon.

The only thing that really caught Lea's attention more than the report on the well-dressed thug was the follow-up story about a Faunus civil rights protest gone wrong because of the White Fang. When he first heard of the Faunus, Lea could not help but make a few comparisons to Nobodies, namely in the sense that they were named outcasts because of circumstances beyond their control. Sure, it was not entirely the same thing, but considering that Organization XIII eventually came to stand as a voice for all Nobodies in a manner similar to how the White Fang seemed to have for Faunus, you could not blame Lea for seeing a few parallels. Though if he were being honest, based on what he read about the White Fang, Lea was not sure if he preferred them over the Organization just yet, be it when the Faunus rights group first appeared or as it was now. Glancing over and seeing Roxas giving that particular report the same amount of attention as he was easily reminded Lea that his best friend had the same thought when they first heard about the group.

The news report was soon interrupted though in order for a special greeting message by Glynda Goodwitch to be played for the new students. After meeting the deputy headmistress themselves, the Keybearers could not help but feel a little put-off by how much friendlier she seemed to be in this message than she had been in person. Then again, it probably was not a good idea for any of the teachers to be portrayed in a poor light before the students had even arrived at the school, so the boys did their best to ignore their discomfort and pay attention to the welcome message. When it ended, they saw a lot of students rushing to take in the view of the city below as they flew over it to their destination, and when Sora went to have a look for himself, the other three could not help but smile when he lit up with excitement. Seeing that served as reassurance that the old Sora was still in there somewhere, because they had not seen him act like that since before the events of the Second Keyblade War. All the more reason to believe that coming here was definitely going to be a big help to their friend.

The nice moment quickly came to an end though when they spotted a blonde boy in a hoodie and armor suddenly become unable to hold in his lunch before he started scrambling to find someplace where he could throw up without making a mess. "Yeesh. Glad I'm not that guy," Lea muttered to his friends.

"Although it makes you wonder why he even came down to have a look outside if he knew he was probably going to get sick," Ventus said.

"Think we should check on him to make sure he's okay," Sora asked, showing a little more of his true nature when he did.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Roxas reassured his friend.

The former Nobody suddenly became a little less sure when the four suddenly heard a young girl cry out, "Oh, Yang, gross! You have puke on your shoe!"

"Gross, gross, gross…" a blonde girl repeatedly complained as she rushed to try and get the puke off of said shoe, while another girl in a red hood and cape did her best to stay ahead of the blonde.

"Get away, get away," the girl with the cape panicked, her voice confirming that she was the one they heard earlier. "Oh, get away from me! Get away from me! Get away from me!"

The four just watched the girls in wonder as they continued running for a minute, until they both disappeared. Even after they were gone, it was a little while before any of the boys said anything about what they just saw. "Well…that happened," Roxas stated at last, being the first to rediscover his ability to speak.

"Who do you think those two were," Sora questioned, having been unable to get a good look at the two before they were gone.

"Don't know, but we'll probably find out later on if they're gonna be new students like us," Ventus reasoned.

"I hope so. That blonde chick seemed pretty interesting," Lea commented with a small grin that made the other three stare at him questionably.

"Dude," Ventus finally snapped, getting the redhead's attention. "I'm pretty sure she's a couple decades younger than you, you know."

"Okay, one, how old do I look to you guys? I'm technically not that much older than you, Ventus," Lea admitted. "And two, what are you guys thinking? I'm just saying that she looked like someone I'd like getting to know."

"Yeah, we'd buy that if we didn't know you had a thing for blondes," Roxas stated. When Lea gave him a questioning look of his own, Roxas did not even try to hesitate on elaborating his meaning. "Don't think I didn't notice all those times when you and Larxene…"

"Okay, whoa! Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Stop right there," Lea interrupted in a near-panicked tone of voice. "I'm telling you right now that any ideas you have about me and Larxene, you need to drop faster than a bad date! I was never interested in her like that. If anything, I wanted to keep as much distance between me and her as possible. Seriously, I wouldn't wish that crazy little bitch on my worst enemy."

"All right, all right. Chill out, man," Roxas placated. The four then went silent for a few more minutes before he finally asked, "So are you really like twenty-some years old?"

"Hey, technically, I was made into a Nobody when I was still a teenager, and I don't know if you've noticed, but most Nobodies don't really age that much physically, with a few exceptions here and there. I just happen to be really tall for my age," Lea retorted in a huff.

Not much more was said on the matter after that, and the boys just enjoyed the rest of the flight in silence. By that point though, there was really not that much of a flight left, as their ship soon came to rest at the port, and the doors opened to allow the new students to disembark and begin making their way towards their new school/home. The boys had quickly spotted the sick blonde from earlier spewing his guts out into a trash can, and while they were sympathetic to him, they were also a little too grossed out to go over and see if he was okay, so they just kept on walking forwards. Doing so actually served a much greater purpose for them, because it allowed the four to finally get their first real look at Beacon Academy, and they were definitely impressed.

From where they stood, the school looked like a massive, modern day castle with all the towers that the building seemed to be made up of. The grounds were made up of various trees and freshly cut grass, while a statue that they could not get a good look at from their current position sat in the center of the courtyard, just before the main entrance of the school. Various lampposts lined the walkway, some of which had banners hanging from them. Add in the small moat that circled around part of the courtyard, and the Keybearers would be hard pressed to not think that this had once been the home to some royal or noble family before it was a school.

"I've seen a lot of cool places, but this has definitely got to be high up there on the list of the coolest," Sora admitted, and that was saying something, coming from him. After all, he had seen Queen Elsa create her ice palace in person when he visited Arendelle, along with a number of other impressive places and castles. Somehow, he managed to shake himself out of his near child-like awe, and began addressing his friends. "Okay guys, Ozpin said that all the new students would be gathering together in the auditorium for an opening ceremony of some kind, so now that we're here, we'd better get over there right away." When he did not receive any kind of reply from the others, he turned around and saw that his group had all vanished. "Guys?" Sora called out in confusion while looking around, only seeing a bunch of kids rushing towards the school in various states of hurry as he did. In the end, he just let out a sigh and muttered, "And they ditched me. Really guys? Donald and Goofy never did this…Well, they kinda did once, but that was ages ago and completely different from this."

Sora's discussion with himself stopped short when a loud explosion suddenly went off somewhere close by, and he quickly spun around to see what the source could have been. Much to his surprise, it looked like it came from one of two girls, one with white hair and dressed in an equally white outfit, and the other being the girl with the red hood from the ship. While he was not entirely sure how the two could have made such an explosion happen, what he could see was that the girl in white was really upset about something, and from what he could tell, Little Red looked really apologetic, despite not being too thrilled to be on the receiving end of the other girl's wrath. Already Sora had a bad feeling about this situation unfolding before him, and he did not hesitate to rush over just in case he would need to help out. He did not realize just how justified that bad feeling was though until he got close enough to hear the two girls' conversation, if you could really call it that.

"Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about," the girl in white shouted, chewing out Little Red and unknowingly drawing a scowl on Sora's face with every word she said.

"I'm really, really sorry," Little Red apologized almost frantically, but it did not seem like she was being listened to.

"Ugh! You complete, dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon," the snotty girl questioned. Not that she was willing to wait for an answer before going off on her target again. "This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice you know. We're here to fight monsters, so watch where you're going!"

"Then I guess I'd better get started with the monster that's right in front of me," Sora interrupted, having heard more than enough already to decide he should step in.

The two girls both turned to the Keyblade wielder upon hearing him, and while Little Red looked more surprised by his remark, Sora's snotty target was the one the Keyblade wielder was more focused on. "Excuse me?! Look, I don't know who you are, but this is none of your concern, so just go bother someone else."

"If you're going to be bullying someone around, then this is definitely my business," Sora easily shot back. "Look, I don't know what happened to make you mad at her, but she already said she was sorry, so back off, Princess."

"It's Heiress, actually," a new voice corrected, and all three immediately turned to see a girl with black hair and dressed in an attire that had a lot of the same color to match, including the bow she wore on top of her head. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

"Schnee Dust Company," Sora repeated in question. "As in the biggest producer of Dust and energy propellant in the world?"

"Correct. Finally, some recognition," Weiss confirmed with a prideful smirk. "Maybe now you would like to apologize for your insults?"

That got Sora to frown again, and he easily replied, "I wouldn't bet on that, considering what else your company is also known for, like having shady business partners and bad working practices for a lot of its workers, especially in the case of Faunus."

"What-? How dare-! The nerve of…" Weiss sputtered, but it did not seem like she could find any kind of retort for Sora's comment.

"He's not wrong," the black haired girl smirked in approval, clearly finding humor in the heiress having her moment of glory turned on its head in the way that it had. Apparently, Little Red was enjoying it too, since she was giggling a little at her bully being outsmarted like this.

In the end, Weiss just huffed angrily, snatched a bottle from the black haired girl, and stalked off in a huff like any other spoiled brat. While Sora just rolled his eyes at Weiss, the black haired girl merely glared at the snowflake-like symbol on the back of Weiss's jacket, while the other girl quickly waved after Weiss as she called out, "I promise I'll make this up to you!"

'Seriously,' Sora mentally questioned as he stared at the girl. Even he was not that quick to forgive someone that was bullying him in any way. Sure he had more than a few friends that were once his enemies, but he did not try to mend bridges with all of them just like that. This girl was definitely something else.

He quickly came back to reality when he heard something plop down on the ground, and looked to see that Little Red had dropped down onto her back, apparently feeling a little dejected after all that had just happened, and from the look of things, the black haired girl had not stuck around either. So, being the nice guy that he was, Sora decided that he may as well help out the interesting girl he had stepped up to a bully for, and quickly approached her just as she had sadly muttered, "Welcome to Beacon."

"I wouldn't worry about it, too much," Sora reassured as he held his hand out to her. "They do say that the first day is always the hardest, right?" The girl did not really respond at first, but instead just stared at him in question. Sora figured that she probably thought he was trying to trick her or something, so he put on the best smile he could manage and said, "Anyways, my name's Sora; Sora Hikari. What's yours?"

"…Ruby," Little Red nervously replied, finally granting Sora a name to go with her face as she accepted his hand up. When she was on her feet again, Sora finally got the chance to get a good look at her, and he was left pretty stunned by what he saw.

Ruby was only a little shorter than him, with somewhat pale, yet fair skin and neck-length, choppy hair that was mostly black but gradates to dark red at its tips, and wore a black long-sleeved dress with a high collar and red trim on the sleeves, a black waist cincher with red lacing up the front, and red trim around her skirt. The rest of her outfit consisted of black stockings and black combat boots with red laces and trims around the top and soles, a black belt that was slung around her hips on an angle with a silver rose-shaped brooch pinned close to the middle along with a pouch, and the red cloak and hood that he had glimpsed up until now. Of course, the thing that really grabbed Sora's attention was actually Ruby's eyes. They were a beautiful, shinning silver color unlike anything Sora had seen before, and it was honestly a bit of struggle for the boy to not stare at those shimmering pools for too long.

Thankfully he managed to snap out of it when Ruby asked, "Wait, aren't you one of those guys from the airship that all had similar hairstyles?"

"Huh," Sora asked, partly because he was just coming back down to Earth, and also because he did not entirely understand the question. "What guys?"

"You know, those other guys who had spiky hair like yours. I thought I saw you hanging out with them. The two blonde boys who looked like they were twins and the really tall redhead," Ruby elaborated.

"Oh, yeah, I guess so," Sora sheepishly confirmed, hoping that Ruby had not noticed how he was staring at her just now. "I didn't know we had attracted that much attention."

"Well, I don't really know how much attention, but it was a little hard for me and my sister to miss the Spiky Gang," Ruby teased, earning a small laugh from Sora as he joined her in just walking around the campus.

"'Spiky Gang,' huh? Well, I guess if the shoe fits," Sora grinned once his chuckles had died down. "So what happened to get that Schnee girl so mad at you, anyway?"

"You mean you didn't see," Ruby asked.

"Not really. I just heard some big explosion and then turned to see her yelling at you," Sora admitted.

"It was my fault, really. I accidentally tripped over her luggage, and then she yelled at me while shaking around a vial of Dust, and then I sneezed, and next thing you know, I'm literally exploding a hole in front of the school," Ruby explained.

"Wait, wait, wait," Sora requested as he raised both hands up in a request for her to pause for a minute. "Are you saying that you made a big explosion by sneezing?" When Ruby just looked away in red-faced embarrassment, and starting to look a little cuter now, Sora knew he had his answer, and he immediately grinned, "That's actually pretty cool."

"Seriously," Ruby asked, thinking she had heard wrong.

"Yeah. I wouldn't have said it if it wasn't true," Sora confirmed.

That got Ruby to smile a little more, and her embarrassed blush to disappear, but at that point, their conversation seemed to have come to a sudden halt, and Ruby was not really too eager to end it just yet. Of course, she was not really sure how to keep the conversation going, being pretty socially awkward by her own admission, but all the same, that did not mean she did not have something to contribute to a conversation. "So…I've got this thing," she finally said as she reached into a compartment on the back of her belt.

Sora was about to ask what she was referring to, when he suddenly had to back up in order to avoid getting hit by a massive, red mechanical weapon that Ruby just drew and unfolded before him. "Whoa," Sora gasped in awe, having never seen a weapon like that before. "Is that some kind of scythe?"

"It's also a customizable, high-impact sniper rifle," Ruby informed him with pride. Unfortunately, Sora was not one who could easily understand descriptions like that, so when he cocked his head in confusion, Ruby knew she had to dumb it down a little for him. Not that she had a problem with it, as evidenced by how she hefted her scythe up so she was holding it in both hands, and then cocked the sniper portion of it as she specified, "It's also a gun."

"Oh, cool," Sora praised with a grin. "I've never seen something like that before."

That seemed to brighten Ruby's spirits a little more, and it showed when she excitedly asked, "So what've you got?"

"Huh? What've I got," Sora asked.

"Yeah, what's your weapon?"

"Oh, well…" Sora was a little hesitant to answer that question, but at the same time, he did not want to let Ruby feel like he was being a jerk for not sharing after she told him about her weapon. Besides, it was not like this was the first time he had shown off his weapon to someone without giving too much away, so in the end, he really had no problem holding his hand out and summoning forth Kingdom Key like he always did as he said, "I've got this."

"Oooooooh," Ruby gasped in awe. "How'd you do that? Is it part of your Semblance?"

"No, it's actually part of my weapon's special nature," Sora explained. He and the others had all gone over and rehearsed the story that they would give to people about their Keyblades and abilities while they were on Remnant, and it seemed like he was about to really put it to the test here with Ruby. "You see, my sword, which is called the Keyblade, possess the power to be summoned to me at any time that I want or need it. My friends each have one of their own, too. Well, except for Roxas. He actually has two."

"How did you get it to be like that," Ruby asked.

"I didn't. The Keyblade is like that naturally. Legend says that the person who made all the first Keyblades placed a special kind of enchantment on them so that they would bond with whoever came to wield them," Sora continued explaining. "No one's really quite sure if it's true or not, but the one thing that everyone does know is that the few people who do know how to forge a Keyblade use a special kind of technique that lets it come to its wielder in the way that the first ones all could. Well that, and the fact that the Keyblade is very picky about its wielder, so even if someone did try to get rid of it, it would just come right back to them. I can still put it away in the same way that I summoned it out, but any other method of getting rid of it wouldn't work."

"That's amazing," Ruby whispered. "So what does it do?"

"Well…a lot of different things, actually, but the coolest feature, in my opinion, is that I can attach different Keychains to the end of it so that I can change its appearance while giving it extra powers, and allowing it to change into various other weapons as well. Of course, what it changes into depends on what Keychain I'm using at the time, and the one I'm currently using doesn't really turn it into anything," Sora said.

"So you can basically make it turn into any weapon you want if you have the right Keychain," Ruby asked.

"More or less. It's usually only able to change into two different weapons at most aside from its default sword form with each Keychain," Sora clarified for her.

Ruby nodded along, seeming to have bought the story Sora and his friends more or less made up about their Keyblades, and definitely intrigued by everything that Sora just told her, all the while, grinning a little more at the idea of having so many weapons in just one. When Sora finished talking, Ruby seemed to hesitate for a moment before she finally asked, "Do you…mind if I hold it for a little bit?"

Sora happily nodded in reply. After all, this was not the first time he let someone else try out his Keyblade, but then again, the last time he did was as part of a trick he had played on Captain Jack Sparrow. He could clearly tell that it was different in Ruby's case. She was not asking if she could keep the Keyblade, just if she could have a better look at it, so he had no problem handing Kingdom Key to her so she could do so. When the Kingdom Key's handle rested in her hand, Ruby could swear that she felt a special kind of warmth emanating from it, almost making her think she was holding a little heart in a strange way. After a second though, she took a few practice swings so that she could get a better feel for the blade, and was pleasantly surprised by what she discovered as she did.

"Wow, it's really well balanced," Ruby began noting, almost as if she were making an in-depth study of the legendary blade. "I figured that the teeth on the tip would make it a little heavier on that one side, but it seems like it's just as easy to swing as a basic sword. Probably has some capability of using Dust crystals, but I can't quite figure out where they would be loaded in. Seems to have good striking ability too. I figured that the Keychain might get in the way, but it doesn't seem to hinder the sword at all. Maybe it's just a matter of the person using it." Before Ruby could make any more notes, Kingdom Key suddenly vanished from her hand before popping right back into its proper wielder's. "Hey! I wasn't done just yet!"

"Sorry, but like I said, the Keyblade's really picky about its wielder," Sora reminded her with a friendly grin. "Although I have to admit, I'm surprised you picked up on all of that stuff so quickly. I've never really thought about all that very much before, myself."

Ruby let out a sheepish chuckle upon hearing that, and replied, "Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons, but you probably figured that out already from seeing how I probably went a little overboard when designing Crescent Rose."

"Crescent Rose," Sora asked, confused by the name Ruby just dropped.

"That's the name of my scythe," Ruby clarified.

"Oh, gotcha," Sora nodded, only to stop short when the rest of what Ruby said registered in his mind. "Wait, are you saying you made that yourself?"

"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons," Ruby proudly told him. "Didn't you make yours?"

"Uh…No, actually. Very few people know how to forge a Keyblade, and even then, the Keyblade itself actually chooses who its wielder is," Sora admitted. "No one really knows how or why that is. To be honest, Kingdom Key was originally meant to be wielded by my best friend, but certain…events made it choose me instead."

Ruby was curious about how a weapon could choose its wielder like Sora was implying, and about what those events were, but from what she could tell by the look on Sora's face, it was not a story he was too willing to share right now, so she figured it was better to leave it alone. She was not going to pry into something that looked too personal, especially if there was a chance that it would cost her the first friend she had made at Beacon. "Well, I like it, and I think it really suits you really well. And I can't wait to see you use it in a real battle."

"Thanks, and trust me, it'll be something that you won't forget any time soon when you do see it," Sora promised.

"So why'd you help me out back there, in the courtyard," Ruby then asked, having been wondering about that for a while now.

"I just wanted to lend a hand. I don't like bullies in general, no matter who they are or where they're from. Plus, I wasn't just gonna sit back and let that girl push you around," Sora shrugged with his old carefree attitude shinning out more than it had in months.

"But you didn't even know me," Ruby pointed out.

"Maybe not, but I'm usually a really good judge of character. I could tell you weren't a bad person, and that you'd be a really good friend to have," Sora easily replied.

"Wait, you really think of me as a friend already? Just like that?"

"Sure. Despite what some people may say, it can actually be that easy if you let it," Sora grinned in return, his hands resting behind his head.

That got Ruby to smile a little more, and Sora could swear that she just got a lot cuter when she did. It almost reminded him of the way Kairi would smile when she was especially happy, but he quickly shook that thought away from his mind. He could not let himself forget that Kairi was the reason he was here, and he should not let a girl he just met distract him from his mission, no matter how cute she was. Still, he could not shake that odd feeling inside him that seemed to persist in making itself known to him the longer he was around Ruby.

Just before Sora could stew in those thoughts for a little longer, Ruby suddenly asked, "Hey, where are we going?"

"Uh…I thought you knew," Sora admitted. The two just stared at each other in silence after that, before they ultimately burst out laughing at how lacking their sense of direction seemed to be right then. "Neither one of us are all that good at finding places without a map of some kind, are we?"

"Nope, seems like we're not," Ruby giggled, and with that, the two friends started looking for any clues as to what direction they needed to go in order to meet up with the rest of the new students.

* * *

In the end, Sora and Ruby had an easier time figuring out how to find a way to the auditorium than they originally thought they would. All they had to do was follow the crowd, which they only just recently had noticed had been heading in the opposite direction of them, and from there, it was just a matter of heading inside before the big, opening ceremony started. Of course, they also had to find a good spot for said ceremony, but that did not seem to be too big of an issue, as they quickly spotted some familiar faces who were each waving them over, indicating a spot that had been saved for them.

"Oh, hey I gotta go. I'll see you after the ceremony," Ruby told Sora.

"Sure thing. Catch you later, Ruby," Sora called after the girl as she moved to join the blonde that he saw her with back on the airship. He then turned to join up with his three friends, ready to chew each of them out for leaving him behind earlier. "Hey you guys, what gives," Sora demanded once he reached Ven, Lea, and Roxas. "Why'd you ditch me back there?"

The three just exchanged confused looks between one another before they ultimately just shrugged at Sora, looking like they had no idea what he was talking about. Sora was about to go off on them when he heard Ruby's voice calling out to him. He then turned around to see her happily waving to him, and he could not help but smile as he waved back. None of the others failed to notice this, and while Roxas and Ventus just looked interested by this new development, Lea's grin was much more mischievous in comparison. Not that it stopped Sora from getting back on track after he turned to face them again.

"Earlier at the courtyard," Sora asked in reminder. Again, the other three boys just shrugged, and that got Sora's temper to flare a little more again. "When we got off the airship," Sora enunciated. At that point, the others could not keep up the act any longer, and they all just burst out laughing, proving what Sora already suspected: they had pranked him. "Oh, you bunch of little…" Sora growled. "You all are so lucky Aqua's not here right now, because she would be more than ready to let you all have it for that."

Hearing his best friend's name being mentioned not only served to stop Ventus's laughter cold, but it also made him go really pale in the face as well. "Uh, guys…Did any of you tell Aqua we were coming to this world," the blonde nervously whispered.

That got Lea and Roxas to stop laughing, while Sora's glare dropped into a look of worry. "I thought you told her," Lea admitted to Ventus.

When Ventus slowly shook his head in response, Sora, Roxas, and Lea all turned just as pale as him as they realized the error that they had made, but only Roxas was willing to say anything about it. "So…on a scale of one to ten, ten being the highest, how mad do you think she's gonna be when she finds out we didn't tell her before we left?"

* * *

**World: Castle of Dreams**

At that very moment, Aqua and Terra were strolling through the streets of the town on Cinderella's world on a date, simply enjoying each other's company and the stars of the night sky that were currently shining brightly above them. They had traded out their usual warrior's attire for much more casual clothes, save for their armor pieces, just for the occasion, with Aqua wearing a cyan t-shirt and blue jeans, and Terra sporting a dark grey shirt, brown coat, and dark brown cargo pants. They were both enjoying the peaceful moment that they had been allowed after all that had happened, and for that moment, it seemed like all their worries did not exist.

That illusion was soon shattered when Terra noticed that Aqua had a certain look on her face. It was one he knew all too well, because it was the same look he knew that his girlfriend would always get when she was thinking about one of their closest friends; more specifically, a friend that she was very worried about. He had a feeling he knew which friend she had on her mind, but all the same, he still felt like he had to ask, "Aqua? What's the matter?"

Aqua let out a small sigh before she asked, "How do you think Sora's been doing lately? I mean, I know none of us have really heard too much from him lately, but it's been a couple of months now, and I'm really worried about what he may end up doing."

"Wait, you mean…you don't know," Terra asked in surprise.

"Know what," Aqua asked, her worried look changing to one of confused intrigue.

"Master Yen Sid recently found a lead on what happened to Kairi, and he sent Sora, Ven, Roxas, and Lea to look into it. Said that the world they would be going to would also help them get in some special training. I thought someone had told you," Terra revealed. He then felt Aqua stiffen a little under the arm he currently had wrapped around her shoulders, and he looked over to see that her right eye was twitching a little, indicating that she was likely getting upset. "Aqua? Sweetie? Are you…"

"Terra…do you know which world they went to," Aqua calmly questioned.

That made Terra even more worried than he already was, to the point where he was surprised that he managed to answer the question. "Uh…no, honey. I only just found out the other day after I talked to Riku on the Gummiphone."

"I see," Aqua hummed in thought, still as calm as before, and in a tone that was far too sweet and even to be normal. Terra's hunch was proven true when Aqua then promised, "When I find those four…not even Kingdom Hearts itself will be able to save them."

The only thing that scared Terra more at that moment was the fact that Aqua's voice had not wavered from its calm tone in the slightest, and from his own past experiences, he knew that meant she was likely saving up her anger for the target of said fury. Not another word was said on the matter for the rest of their date, and while some would think that meant Aqua had forgotten about it entirely, Terra knew better, having known his girlfriend for as long as he had, and said more than a few prayers for Sora and the others in the hopes that Aqua would be merciful.

* * *

**World: Remnant**

"Yeah, we're dead," Ventus moaned miserably.

"Yep," Sora agreed plainly.

"Any chance we can do something to guarantee our continued existence," Lea asked, hoping that there was a good answer.

"Pray," Ventus and Sora simultaneously answered. They both knew that was the only thing that could be done at this point having known Aqua for as long as they each had.

Before they could further bemoan their sorrows regarding their impending doom at the hands of a royally ticked off Aqua, Sora heard a familiar, arrogant voice from nearby saying, "Yeah, and we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys, like tall, spiky, and scrawny over there!"

All four boys turned to the speaker, having all picked up on that last bit to see that Weiss had once again crossed paths with Ruby, and much to Sora's irritation, it did not seem like she was being any friendlier with the young scythe wielder than she was the last time. Of course, the rest of his friends were a little more confused about something else. "Which one of us do you think she's talking about," Lea questioned.

"I don't know," Ventus shrugged, with Roxas doing the same while letting out a grunt that sounded like a similar response to Ven's.

"Oh wow, really," Ruby excitedly asked, apparently having completely missed the sarcasm.

"…No," Weiss answered shortly before turning away in a huff while Ruby was left to hang her head sadly.

Seeing that Sora was tempted to march over and give Weiss another piece of his mind, and he probably would have too, had the sound of someone coughing into a microphone not suddenly echoed over the speakers in the room, drawing everyone's attention to the stage where Ozpin stood before a microphone, with Goodwitch off to the side. "I'll…keep this brief," Ozpin informed everyone. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far." Ozpin then paused for a moment as his eyes wandered over the crowd for a minute, and Sora could have sworn that the headmaster was speaking directly to them, or even a certain few other individuals when he finally finished. "It is up to you to take the first step."

With his piece said, Ozpin stepped aside and allowed Glynda to take the floor. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

After that, the students all began to disperse, some going to the ballroom that Goodwitch had just mentioned, others just mingling amongst other students, and the remainder contemplating Ozpin's speech just now. The four Keyblade wielders were actually among that last group. "Well, I'm certainly pumped," Lea sarcastically cheered.

"No kidding. I think even Lexaeus gave better motivational speeches than that," Roxas agreed.

"Wait, do you mean Lexaeus as in when he actually was Lexaeus, or as in now that he's back to normal as Aeleus," Lea questioned.

"The former," Roxas replied.

"He definitely seemed a little off," Ventus admitted, referring to Ozpin. "It was almost like he wasn't even there."

"Doesn't matter. Let's just get to the ballroom for now. After all, we're not here to critique the way someone gives a speech," Sora practically ordered as he started marching out.

Just from those brief sentences, the other three knew that Sora was about to fall into a bad mood, and the last thing they wanted was to see Sora getting upset again, especially after they saw a little bit of the old Sora come out not too long ago. Thinking quickly, Lea jumped right onto the topic that they all intended to bring up with him, but considering the way he was grinning, the blonde duo of their group could not help but wonder if it was wise to let him do it. "So Sora, who was that girl just now," Lea asked.

"Which girl," Sora questioned, considering that they just saw three not too long ago.

"The one that you came in with and were just waving to before the ceremony started."

"You mean Ruby? She's just a friend I made after you guys ditched me. I saw her getting yelled at by Weiss, the girl in white, and figured I should help her out, since it seemed like she needed it," Sora explained, clearly not getting what Lea was aiming for.

"Geez, it's like every world you go to," Lea chuckled, furthering Sora's confusion. "You've always gotta be the knight in shining armor, huh? I mean, I get that it's probably a ton of fun and stuff, but come on! Leave a few for the rest of us, bud."

"Hey, it's not like I go looking for people in trouble, and besides, I don't help them because I want some kind of reward or anything. I just like helping people out, especially since it almost always results in getting some new friends," Sora defended.

"Right, among which happen to be some really cute girls," Lea teased, not noticing how Roxas and Ventus were motioning for him to stop. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were looking for a new girl…"

"GREAT friend! A new great friend, that I'm sure we will all enjoy getting to know," Roxas hurriedly finished while slapping his hand over Lea's mouth and pulling him down into a headlock before he could finish. Unfortunately, the damage was already done, and Sora was now scowling more than ever as he stomped out of the room in a huff.

"If you need me, I'll be somewhere a little more private so I can run a few drills," Sora informed the three just as he was about to disappear into the crowd.

When all signs of Sora were gone, Roxas finally released his best friend so that he could join Ventus in glaring at the taller boy. "Nice job, flame brain," he scolded. "Are you trying to set him off?"

"I'm sorry! It was slipping about before I even realized it," Lea insisted with his hands up in self-defense. "But can you really blame me? I mean, you both saw his face when he came in with her, right? Or how about when he turned to wave at the girl? Or even when we realized that Ice Princess was picking on her? I mean, that wasn't just old Sora coming out. That was something else entirely."

"Even if that were true, that's still no excuse for you to go and say things like that to him, or even around him. Not while the wound from what happened to Kairi is still healing," Ventus admonished, making Lea feel a lot smaller all of a sudden as he spoke. The blonde took a deep breath in order to calm his own nerves and then stated, "Still, you do have a bit of a point. Even if it isn't what you're thinking it is, Lea, there was something about that Ruby girl that seemed to bring out more of the old Sora than any of the rest of us have managed to bring back, so maybe…Just maybe…"

"You know, you almost sound like you're thinking about setting those two up," Roxas informed his twin in all but blood.

"I wouldn't go that far just yet. If anything, I say we just keep an eye on Sora, at least when he's around Ruby, and see what happens later on," Ventus cautioned. He then shot a look at Lea and added, "Which means no crazy schemes to get them alone with each other like they're on some weird date."

"What? Why are looking at me," Lea asked, sounding more than a little offended at the accusation.

The two blondes just rolled their eyes in response and began making their way to the ballroom with the other students. They did not plan on going after Sora right now, since they figured it would be better to leave him be for now, but if he was gone for too long, then they did intend to go and find him later. It would be bad for him to not get any sleep before a big test like this initiation that Goodwitch mentioned was probably going to be tomorrow.

* * *

Night had fallen over Beacon, and there was still no sign of Sora joining the other students in the ballroom. Roxas, Lea, and Ventus were more than a little worried now, especially given what they had heard from Riku about Sora's recent training habits, and they were not about to let Sora run that routine here, at least not tonight, when they had a big test to worry over in the morning. As such, the two blondes had felt that they should all go and search for their friend, but Lea insisted that the two stay put while he went and looked for Sora alone. Admittedly, he did feel pretty responsible for what had happened earlier, so it just made sense that he go and drag Sora away from whatever regimen he was working through on his own. That had been almost half an hour ago now, and there was still no sign of the two, but Roxas had reassured Ven that Lea was an old pro at finding missing friends and bringing them back to where he felt that they needed to be, so he quieted his urge to get up and go after the two.

It became easier when he heard someone approach them, and turned to see a familiar blonde boy from the airship glancing to them a little nervously. "Uh, do you guys mind if I grab a spot over here," the boy asked. "It seems like everywhere else is taken."

"Go for it. We're saving a couple spots for our friends, but there's still plenty of room here," Ventus offered.

"Thanks," the boy nodded as he started setting up his sleeping bag.

After another minute or so, Ventus could not help but ask, "Say, aren't you that guy who threw up on the ship?"

That drew a slightly irritated sigh from the other boy, but he still admitted, "Yeah, that's me, but come on! Motion sickness is actually a much more common problem than people let on."

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean anything offensive by it, but a first impression like that is a little hard to forget," Ventus tried to placate. That did seem to lighten the other boy's mood at least a bit, so Ven decided to finally put a name to the guy's face. "Anyways, my name's Ventus, but you can just call me Ven. What's your name?"

The other blonde grinned a little more upon hearing that question, and proudly declared, "The name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."

"…Do they," Ventus asked skeptically.

"They will! Well, I…I hope they will," Jaune admitted. He then glanced over to the other spiky haired blonde that was with Ventus, and asked, "So what's with your brother? Is he not really the talkative type?"

"No, I was just keeping an eye out for our other two friends," Roxas answered for Ventus. "And for the record, I'm not his brother. We just happen to look a lot alike."

"No kidding. I mean, I thought for sure you guys were twins," Jaune said.

"Yeah, we get that a lot," Roxas shrugged. "I'm Roxas, by the way. Roxas Sheru."

"Nice to meet you, Roxas and Ven," Jaune nodded while exchanging a handshake with both boys.

At that point, Roxas heard the sounds of someone apparently struggling against something, and turned to see Ruby getting pulled along by the blonde girl from earlier towards a girl with black hair who was sitting by a lit candle as she read a book. Feeling a little interested in what was going on over there, he excused himself from his fellow blondes so that he could better listen in, or at the very least, ask Ruby if she had seen Sora or Lea recently. Roxas was not sure entirely sure if the other two heard him or not, but he was already up and going over, so it was not like it mattered at that point. He had actually just gotten over to the three when he started being better able to hear what they were saying to each other a little more clearly.

"What's it about," Ruby had asked, surprising the black haired girl a little. "Your book. Does it have a name?"

"Well…it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body," the black haired girl answered.

"Oh, yeah, that's…real lovely," the blonde girl commented in uncertainty.

_'It also sounds pretty familiar to something I've had the pleasure of being part of before,'_ Roxas thought to himself, thinking back to the time when Sora had been carrying around his, Ven's, and Xion's hearts inside of his own. Sure, none of them ever actually fought for control of Sora's body, save for that one time when he fought Sora in the World That Never Was, but he could still see a similarity or two in there.

"I love books," Ruby informed the black haired girl. "Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters…they're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress."

"Why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after," the black haired girl questioned, almost sounding a little amused by the notion, but Roxas could have sworn that he picked up on something in her voice that indicated she had a hard time believing such a thing could exist.

"Well, I'm hoping we all will," Ruby admitted. "As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right, and who protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

"That's very ambitious for a child," the black haired girl praised. She then looked away with a downcast look when she added, "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

"You'd be surprised how often it can be, though," Roxas stated, startling the three girls when he joined in. "Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help but overhear."

"Oh, don't worry about it, cutie," the blonde girl reassured him with a sly look.

Roxas may still be learning a few things about how to live a normal life, but he did know enough to recognize what that look meant, so he had no problem backing up a little as he said, "I have a girlfriend, Miss…"

"Xiao Long. Yang Xiao Long," the blonde girl replied. "And you are…?"

"Roxas. Nice to meet you." He then looked over to the only girl of the three he was at least a little familiar with and asked, "And you're Ruby, right?"

"Yeah. How'd you know," Ruby asked. She quickly became nervous when she begged, "Please tell me it's not because you saw when I exploded."

"Uh…No. I'm actually a friend of Sora's, and I heard a little bit about you from him," Roxas replied, all the while wondering what she meant by that. "Speaking of which, have any of you seen him recently? He kind of…disappeared on us after the ceremony."

Before any of the girls could reply, they all heard someone shouting, "LET GO OF ME ALREADY YOU…YOU…YOU BIG PYRO TREE!"

"Oh no! Not happening, Mister. Not until I've gotten you into a sleeping bag so you can get some proper shut eye for that initiation we have tomorrow," another voice that Roxas recognized all too well snapped in return, making the blonde boy sigh when he did.

"Never mind," Roxas tiredly groaned as he joined the girls in turning around to see who was causing all the racket. Just as Roxas suspected, there was Lea dragging Sora into the room via a tight headlock, while Sora himself was madly flailing about in an attempt to get free of the redhead's grasp. Seeing that, Roxas could only smack his forehead while wondering aloud, "How is it that _I'm_ the more mature one between me and him? I mean, really, Axel."

"I told you, I was only going to be another ten minutes," Sora insisted as he started elbowing Lea in the stomach, neither of them having noticed their audience as of yet.

"Yeah, that's what you said when I found you, and yet twenty minutes later, you were still going! Forgive me if I'm not all that trusting of your word after that," Lea argued, and since he was still struggling to keep his hold on the spiky haired brunette, he failed to notice that his best friend was slowly creeping closer to him, while signaling for the girls to keep quiet.

When he finally reached the two, still keeping a safe distance so that he would not accidentally get hit by Sora, Roxas jumped a little closer and happily declared, "There you are!"

"WHOA," the redhead exclaimed with a start, unceremoniously dropping Sora when he did. "Where did you come from?"

Roxas just laughed a little at how he managed to get one over on his best friend, before he finally teased, "So much for the mighty Flurry of Dancing Flames."

"Hey, I'd like to see how well you would do at staying aware of your surroundings while trying to keep this nut in place when he's fussing like a big baby," Lea retorted.

"I was not! And even if I was, it was for good reason," Sora insisted. "I was still running through some training."

"And we've got the whole time we're at this school for you to do that. Right now, you should just worry about getting some sleep. I'm not about to let you or any of us get kicked out of Beacon on the first day just because you slept through the initiation," Lea insisted.

"Wait, Sora, were you really training by yourself this late at night," Ruby asked, announcing hers, Yang's, and the other girl's presence to the recently arrived boys.

Now it was Sora who jumped in surprise a little, having not noticed Ruby was there until, but he still managed to smile at her when he replied, "Well, actually, I've been training since the ceremony ended. Gotta make sure to stay in shape and all that, you know?"

"Yeah, but that was hours ago. There is such a thing as working out too much," Ruby lightly admonished. "Plus, rest is just as important, otherwise your body's likely to burn out at a bad time. Just leave any more workouts for the initiation tomorrow. Trust me; I'm sure any monsters we fight during the test will give you a good work out."

"Okay, sure, you guys win," Sora finally sighed in resignation, surprising Roxas and Lea when he did. The two had heard from Riku how hard it was to get Sora to stop his intense training and call it a night, so to see that this girl he had only known for less than a day easily did so with just a few simple words was shocking to say the least. It was only even more so for Lea, since he had to wrestle with Sora the entire walk back here from where he had found the kid.

"Huh. Did not see that coming," was all that Lea could say in response to this. He shook it off though, and said, "So from that little exchange, I'm guessing you're Ruby, right?"

"Yeah, that would be her, but I don't think we got your name, Stranger," Yang questioned, and despite the fact that she was trying to sound like a suspicious and protective older sibling, the effect ultimately failed when everyone saw the grin on her face.

"Who am I? Oh, the name's Lea. Got it memorized," the redhead proudly declared.

"That depends on whether or not you can make it memorable," Yang teased back.

"Oh trust me, Goldie, I've got plenty of ways to make sure the memory of me is burned into your mind," Lea promised.

Hearing that, Sora and Roxas both groaned as they dropped their heads into their palms. "Really? Fire puns," Roxas questioned. "You've reached a new low, Axel."

"Axel? I thought he said his name is Lea," the black haired girl asked.

"It is. Axel's an old nickname that I used to go by a while back, and some of our friends have just gotten too used to calling me that, even after I've made it clear that I was going to be using my real name from now on," Lea revealed.

Having noticed the third girl in the gathering, Sora finally turned to face her, and easily recognized her. "Hey, wait a minute. Weren't you that other girl from the courtyard? The one who corrected me when I called Weiss a princess?"

"Yeah. My name's Blake," the girl finally revealed.

"Nice to properly meet you, Blake. I'm Sora," the Kingdom Key wielder said with a smile.

"So you're the Sora that my little sister's been going on about, huh," Yang questioned, now looking just as serious as she had attempted to be when she was questioning Lea earlier.

"Your sister," Sora repeated, not entirely sure who Yang was talking about.

"Uh Sora, this is my older sister, Yang," Ruby introduced on the blonde girl's behalf.

"Hold on. You two are sisters," Lea asked, voicing the very same question that Roxas, Sora, and even Blake were all wondering. "You don't really look it that much. I mean, our friend Ventus looks more like he could be Roxas's brother than you two look like you could be sisters."

Yang and Ruby both shrugged in response to this, as the former replied, "Yeah, we get that a lot, considering we really don't look too much alike. Ruby takes more after her…our mom than I do." It may have been small, but it was not quite to the point where the three Keybearers had missed the near slip that Yang had made. Before they could think on it though, Yang suddenly started circling around Sora, looking him over with a very scrutinizing gaze as if she were sizing him up for something. When all three boys turned to Ruby for an explanation, she could only shrug back in return, not knowing what her older sister was up to at the moment either. Finally, Yang came to a stop in front of Sora, nodded, and finally let out a smile as she declared, "All right. You've got the Yang seal of approval."

"Great…For what," Sora asked, hoping that she would explain her sudden strange behavior.

"For dating my little sister. What else," Yang replied with a grin.

While Blake actually let out an amused smile at first, finding the comment funny, she quickly frowned in concern when she somehow managed to overhear the worried groans that Roxas and Lea let slip. "Urgh, are you kidding me," the former had grumbled.

"Aw, not again. I just got him here," Lea quietly moaned, failing just as much as Roxas to notice how Blake was looking at them like she had heard their concerned reactions, or the way her bow slightly twitched when she did.

Thankfully, it seemed that their worries were misplaced, because instead of reacting like he had earlier to Lea's teasing, Sora just ended up doing a very impressive impression of a tomato, while Ruby turned as red as her hood. "What are…How did…Wh-where did you get that idea from," Sora stuttered in an attempt to demand answers from Yang.

"Yang! I told you, it's not like that! Sora's just my friend," Ruby whined cutely, even though she was trying to glare holes through her sister's skull. Despite that, it did not keep her from wishing she had her hood right now so that she could hide underneath it.

Yang appeared to ignore her sister in favor of answering Sora's question. "I just got that kind of vibe from Ruby when she was telling me about you earlier. How you came to her rescue like a noble and selfless hero straight out of a fairy tale. It's just so cute! My baby sister finally has her first crush!"

"Enough, Yang! It's not like that! Just cut it out," Ruby insisted once more, this time lunging for sister, and starting the kind of impromptu wrestling match that all siblings would get into from time to time.

It may have been a strange sight to behold, but Roxas and Lea would take that over Sora running off in a huff again. Plus, the fact that Sora was now reduced to a stuttering, sputtering mess in his own attempts to deny any such notions that he and Ruby were anything more than friends was also pretty humorous. Eventually, Sora just gave up, thinking he should let the sisters hash it out on their own, and said, "Let's just…L-let's just go to bed now. Good night, Ruby. Night, Yang. Night, Blake."

Since the sisters were still wrestling with each other, only Blake replied to Sora's farewell for the night, but she did do so with a small smile. "Good night, Sora, Lea, Roxas. It was nice meeting all of you. And the same goes for you as well Ruby and…"

"What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep," a shrill voice interrupted before Blake could finish, making the sisters stop what they were doing at last as they turned to the speaker with the boys. Unfortunately, they all recognized the white haired girl who had approached them, and most of them were too thrilled to see each other again.

"Oh, not you again," Yang, Sora, and Weiss all yelled upon seeing one another, though Sora was most definitely standing on the same side as Yang in this, seeing as the Schnee heiress had definitely left a bad impression on Ruby's older sister as she had on him.

Ruby on the other hand was quick to try and play peacemaker between the two sides. "Shh! Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!"

"Oh, now you're on my side," Weiss grumbled in response to Ruby's attempt.

"I was always on your side," Ruby insisted.

"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister?! She's just trying to be nice," Yang demanded.

"She's a hazard to my health," Weiss retorted.

"And you're a stuck-up bully," Sora shot back.

"How dare you, you little ruffian," Weiss growled, now fully turning on Sora. What Weiss did not realize was that, like Ruby, Sora also had some backup. The only difference was that Sora's was double in numbers, even if only one of those two had stepped up.

"Hey, Ice Princess, if you've got some kind of problem with my pal, Sora, or really any of my friends, then how about you take it up with me," Lea angrily challenged. "Assuming you can stand the heat."

Weiss just growled a little more before ultimately spinning around on one heel and marching back to her sleeping space. As he watched the heiress go, Roxas could not help but look to Blake and say, "Well, this is going to make things…interesting."

"That's one way to put it," Blake nodded along before setting her book down at last and turning to blow out her candles.

With the light from the small flames going out, the group finally dispersed so that they could turn in for the night and rest up. Sora and Lea only paused for a second to let Ven introduce them to Jaune, but when they all turned in so that the figurative realm of sleep could pull them in, they could all agree that they were eager for whatever tomorrow may bring, assuming that they did not have many more encounters with Weiss.

* * *

**_AN: And there you have it! Our Keyblade wielding heroes have met Ozpin and Goodwitch, they're set up with their own Scrolls and some basic knowledge about Remnant so they can better blend in, they've had some meet and greets with some familiar and favorite RWBY characters, and the events of Shinning Beacon, have all been covered in this one chapter. Plus, Yang's already getting a head-start on teasing her little sister about her and Sora._**

**_Ruby: [lifts hood up to hide her blushing face while whimpering a little] It's not that funny._**

**_Lea: Not to mention that our boy Sora got a chance to tell off Weiss. You can't tell me that wasn't impressive._**

**_AN: Yeah, I know Weiss isn't all that bad, or mean, and that she does mellow out over time, but keep in mind, this is Weiss at the very beginning, so of course Sora's only going to see her being a bully to poor Ruby._**

**_Jaune: So why'd you pretty much cut me out from the moment when I was supposed to meet Ruby for the first time?_**

**_AN: It was nothing personal, man, but it seemed a little better to have Sora fill that spot, and like a good moment for the two to start forming their big connection. Besides, it's not like I cut you out completely. You did still get some screen time in._**

**_Ventus: And he wasn't the only one, either. Not unless you skipped over that cameo that a few friends of ours made._**

**_AN: True that. I just had to keep that scene featuring Aqua and Terra in here from the original version of Remnant of the Key. It seemed like a pretty funny moment in my opinion, and like something I could see Aqua doing if she really did get close enough to Sora and Ventus both to end up in a big-sister type of role. On the flip side, we all got to see a little more of Salty Sora, for lack of a better way to put it. Don't worry, we won't see him getting upset over every little, passing mention about Kairi in every chapter, but I did feel like it was necessary to showcase that here._**

**_Speaking of showcasing, as you all have probably figured out by now, Sora's still got his basic move-set from KH3, meaning the Flowmotion and magic powers are still at their best, and I will also go ahead and confirm that he's also still got the ability to use Attraction Flow and his Heart Binders. He's just not going to be using those last two as much so that he can better maintain his secret of being from another world, so those will be last resort things. Unlike his Keyblade transformations, which he will still have. I mean, it's not like transforming weapons is something that you don't see all the time on Remnant. I mean, hello! Literally almost everything on that world is also a gun! So yeah, expect to at least see him using his Shooting Star Keyblade as well._**

**_Other Keychains that Sora has right now include...Basically every Keychain you can obtain in Kingdom Hearts 3, plus his own Oathkeeper and Oblivion. This does include the KH3 version of Ultima Weapon, which will be a last resort weapon of Sora's, since it triggers his most powerful and most obvious form change, at least while he's on Remnant and trying to hide his secret. If he doesn't have to worry about prying eyes or people who don't already know, at least as far as good guys are concerned, or if he's on another world, then there is a higher chance that he'll use it a bit more openly along with all of his other abilities._**

**_The same can be said about Ventus, Lea, and Roxas in terms of their own powers. They will all be holding back a little bit in order to better maintain their cover, but they will still be using a fair amount of their usual powers in various situations. For Ventus, he's still got his Fever Pitch, Wingblade, and Cyclone Command Styles, along with all the Keychains he collected in Birth By Sleep, plus his own version of the Starlight Keychain, while Lea has all the Keychains fire-themed Keychains in his arsenal now, even though he mainly uses Flame Liberator when in a fight (And yes, that is in fact the name of his Keyblade). I'm still thinking over which Keychains Roxas will be using here, since he does still have the ability to use two Keyblades, but I can confirm that all of his will more than likely be Keychains that he had in 358/2 Days. It's just a matter of deciding which ones would work best here. As for whether or not Ventus and Roxas get Keyblade transformations...well, that's still up in the air, but I do hope to have Sora eventually teach all of his friends how to use Flowmotion later on in the story. More on stuff like that later though, namely as the story progresses._**

**_Actually, now that I think about it, I think that's everything I was going to go over here in this note today. You know, aside from mentioning that the bond between Lea and Yang seems to have already sparked into a small blaze already._**

**_Everyone other than AN and Yang: [groaning at the pun]_**

**_AN: Okay, I probably deserved that._**

**_Yang: I thought it wasn't too bad._**

**_AN: Yeah, that's part of the reason why I'm saying that I probably deserved that. Let's just wrap this up and move Onto the Preview!..._**

**_It's initiation time, and while some of the students are apprehensive about partners (Ruby), others could not be more excited about both that and what else they will find in the Emerald Forest. Of course, the Keyblade wielders are all certain that they can tackle anything that they run into in the Emerald Forest, and it'll be no problem for them to make sure that they are partnered up with each other, but who's to say that they won't find at least one or two surprises during this test? Initiation gets underway, next time._**

**_Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy._**


	3. Initiation

**_Ruby: Come on, you guys! Hurry it up! It's almost time for the next chapter!_**

**_Yang: Easy there, little sister. I'm sure everyone's still taking some time to get here. At least give them all a chance to sit down or something._**

**_Ruby: Well what're they doing just standing around and taking their time for?! There's all kinds of awesome stuff happening here today!_**

**_Weiss: And we'll get to all of it in due time. For now, how about we just wait for the readers to actually start._**

**_Blake: We may have to wait for lyokoMARVELanime as well. He's not even here yet._**

**_Weiss: Well, that's a little inconsiderate. He puts all this work into the third chapter of this story, tells us to be here as early as possible, and yet he can't even be bothered to show up on time?_**

**_Ruby: Hey, on the bright side, we won't miss anything, right?_**

**_Yang: I'd be a little more excited if the current atmosphere wasn't so...mellow and dull._**

**_Blake: It does feel pretty stiff right now._**

**_Weiss: Then I guess it's a lucky thing I know how to fix it. Ruby, would you mind helping me start up the music for one of my songs?_**

**_Ruby: No need, Bestie! I've got something in store that'll solve all our problems, and keep you from having to do a thing. Check it out! [hits something on her Scroll]_**

**_[cue "This Will Be the Day"]_**

**_Aw yeah!_**

**_Blake: That's better!_**

**_Yang: I love this song!_**

**_Weiss: It's catchy, and made for a really great theme song._**

**_Team RWBY: [all break out into a huge dance number as their show's first theme song continues playing all the way through]_**

**_[end song]_**

**_Ruby: Man, that song brings back a lot of memories._**

**_Yang: Yeah, good times._**

**_Weiss: Still, should we really be messing with lyokoMARVELanime's sound system like this? I don't think he would appreciate us using it to basically play at being DJs in some club._**

**_Yang: I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Besides, we're just playing songs from Ruby's playlist right now. Even if it is one that I've got on my playlist too._**

**_Blake: Nice! What else do you have?_**

**_Yang: Funny you should ask. Ever since we got here, I've been looking into lyokoMARVELanime's archives of various different types of Earth music, and I've found some really good stuff. Check this out. [dials up a song on her Scroll]_**

**_[cue "Baby I Like It"]_**

**_Blake: Niiiice._**

**_RBY: [dance to the song until Yang stops it]_**

**_Yang: And how about this one._**

**_[cue "Walk This Way"]_**

**_Ruby: Sweet._**

**_RBY: [dance to the song until Yang stops it]_**

**_Blake: Yeah, those are pretty good, but I've got a pretty good one too. [pulls up song on her Scroll]_**

**_[cue "Move Along" By All American Rejects]_**

**_RBY: [nod along to the beat of the song until Blake stops it]_**

**_Ruby: Okay, those are nice. But I've got a couple new ones too. Check it out! [cues song on her Scroll]_**

**_[cue "Everything is Awesome"]_**

**_Yang: Why am I not surprised? [joins Ruby and Blake in dancing along for a few minutes]_**

**_Ruby: Well how about this one?_**

**_[cue "A Little Faster" by There For Tomorrow]_**

**_RBY: [all nod along to the beat again]_**

**_Ruby: And let's not forget..._**

**_[cue "Fight As One" by Downstait]_**

**_RBY: [all nod along while dancing in place]_**

**_[end songs]_**

**_Yang: Yeah, that's a good playlist. [turns to Weiss] Okay, Ice Queen, what songs have you added to your playlist?_**

**_Weiss: The same. All the same as you guys._**

**_Blake: Uh-huh, sure. Let's hear some then._**

**_Weiss: Okay. [pulls out Scroll but doesn't actually bring up any songs] Oh look at that. The buttons aren't working._**

**_Ruby: Scrolls don't have buttons, and even if they did, you're not even pushing them._**

**_Weiss: Uh...my battery's dead._**

**_Yang: They never go dead! Let's hear some of your songs._**

**_Weiss: No! I don't want to. They're mine._**

**_Ruby: Play one!_**

**_Weiss: No! Don't you dare._**

**_Blake: Get her!_**

**_Ruby: Wait! [cue funny chase scene music] Okay, now get her._**

**_Weiss: Yikes! [runs for it]_**

**_RBY: [Begins chasing Weiss]_**

**_[cue hilarious chase around the studio using every funny chase gag you can think of as Weiss tries to get away]_**

**_Blake: [sneaking up on Weiss] I've got her!_**

**_Weiss: [gets pounced on by Blake] Hey! No fair!_**

**_Ruby: Quick, play a song on her playlist before she get up!_**

**_Weiss: No. No! NO!_**

**_[cue "Don't Think Twice" by Utada Hikaru]_**

**_Yang: [sniffles a little after a few minutes] It gets me. Right here._**

**_Blake: [sheds a tear or two] I just...I can't. It's so sad. It's just so sad! Turn it off!_**

**_[end song]_**

**_Ruby: [wiping a few tears] Why would you have that in your playlist?_**

**_Weiss: Because it's a nice song! "I want you for a lifetime, but if you're gonna think twice..."_**

**_Ruby: Stop it! Please stop! I don't want to cry when we're not even doing a sad chapter!_**

**_AN: [finally comes in] Hey! Who's using my sound system to play "Don't Think Twice"?_**

**_RBY: [instantly pointing to the culprit] Weiss did it!_**

**_Weiss: And just what's wrong with that song?_**

**_AN: You're kidding, right? Have you not at least seen the Kingdom Hearts 3 cutscene movie? Do you know when that song is played in the game?! Every time I so much as think of that song now, I'm reminded of that scene at the end between Sora and Kairi!_**

**_Weiss: Oh...Yeah. I guess that's fair._**

**_AN: Well, I'm no longer in a great mood, or at least not in a good enough mood to answer reviews, so just start today's chapter, please. I'll answer everything in the ending note today. If you need me, I'll be in my dressing room, punching my Xehanort punching-dummy. And not crying. Because I'm not gonna cry. I...I already shed all my tears after seeing that scene the first time through, and I'm pretty sure that I've nearly dried out my tear ducts for a good long time after all the tear-jerking moments we've had in movies, video games, and all other forms of fiction this year. If you hear anything that sounds like crying, that's just me faking it every time I punch the inflatable Xehanort dummy...Okay...Enjoy the story! [leaves just as tears are beginning to form in eyes] Shut up! I'm not crying! There's no tears!_**

**_I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story._**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Initiation**

Despite his attempts to make others believe otherwise, or at the very least make Aqua stop calling him a hopeless sleepyhead, Ventus was not really as lazy as you would think. He just did not do well with getting up if he was enjoying a peaceful rest, and despite the cold hard floor of Beacon's ballroom, Ventus was doing just that. At least he was able to once his friends had finally ended their shouting match with Ruby, her sister, and that other, rather moody girl in white, but that all changed when he heard excited cheering coming from someone that sounded like they were on one serious sugar rush. Cracking an eye open to look at the time on his Scroll, Ventus merely groaned upon seeing that they still had plenty of time to get up and start getting ready for the day ahead of them. He could have attempted to go back to sleep, but the very strange _thing_ that decided that it needed to be up at such an ungodly hour apparently had other plans, so he ended up dragging himself out of his sleeping bag. Turning to his friends, he saw that Lea and Roxas were already up and tidying up their spaces, while Jaune and Sora were already long gone.

Finally, he looked to see what had dared to disturb his sleep, and was left glaring a little at a very hyperactive redhead who was dancing around another teen boy in a green outfit as he too dragged himself up out of bed in a similarly subdued manner as him. From what he could tell, the other boy had probably known the redhead for a long time, because he certainly seemed to be handling her eccentricity with incredible patience, but that did very few favors in improving Ven's morning mood. In the end, he just sighed as he set to work tidying up his area and heading to grab himself some breakfast. Upon arriving at the cafeteria, he easily found Sora, who was munching down on quite a mountain of pancakes. When Ventus asked how the normally lazy bum had managed to get up before him, Sora just replied that the same redhead had woke him up too in her attempts to wake up her friend.

"I think there might be a chance that nearly everyone going to this school is a bit crazy," Ventus sighed once he heard that.

"Maybe, but I wouldn't say that. I mean, Jaune seemed pretty normal, and so did Ruby, you know aside from the fact that she's a couple years younger than most of the other students," Sora shrugged in return.

While he would admit Sora had a point in saying that Jaune seemed relatively sane, it was the latter of those two examples that got Ventus's attention. "How do you know that Ruby's younger than the rest of us?"

"Oh, she and Yang were here just a moment ago before they headed for the locker rooms," Sora explained right when Lea and Roxas sat down. "Apparently, Ruby still had two more years of studying to do at another school before she was eligible to come to Beacon, but she ended up impressing Ozpin enough that he was convinced to let her skip ahead."

"Is that right? Sounds like Little Red's a lot more special than we originally thought," Lea commented once he had shoveled his own helping of breakfast food onto his plate.

"On that, you and Yang would agree. She's insisting that everyone's going to end up thinking that Ruby's the, and I quote, 'bee's knees,' or something," Sora informed him after scarffing down a few more pancakes with a few gulps of milk soon after.

"Bee's knees? Seriously? Who says that anymore," Roxas asked with a chuckle.

"I'm a little more focused on how you mentioned that only me and Yang are thinking that about Ruby," Lea pointed out. "Is she not too thrilled about getting into the school or something?"

"Not that I could tell. From what I gathered, Ruby doesn't really like the idea of being treated like she's some kind of special case," Sora shrugged.

"Well that's a little weird."

"More like refreshing and a sign that she's a lot more humble than other people would be in her position," Ventus corrected. "Anyone else would likely be rubbing that in everyone else's faces, but she just wants to be treated like any other student."

"My thoughts exactly," Sora agreed with a smile.

The rest of their breakfast passed by in relative silence, save for when the hyper girl from earlier and her friend came in to get their own meals, and the two seemed to follow after the Keyblade wielders all the way to the locker room the whole time after. Meaning that they all ended up having to listen as she rambled on to her friend about some bit of nonsense or other, but the one thing that they did get from her excitement was some mention about teams. That left them a little confused, as they were unaware of what that had to do with anything in regards to anything they would be learning at Beacon, but it did not seem like they would be likely to get answers from the odd duo. They seemed a little too caught up in their own little world to really be that bothered by anyone else.

The odd pair aside, the matter of teams did seem like a very popular topic today, as the four Keyblade wielders all heard nearly everyone talking about it in one manner or another. Some were questioning how teams would be formed, others were making strategies on how they could get on the same team as a certain friend or two, and the rest were just talking to certain students in an attempt to talk them into trying to partner up with them. After thinking it over for a minute, it did make sense each of them that the school would want to place their students into teams, since they would more than likely have to work with other Huntsmen after they graduated at varying intervals, but they could also see how it could help the kids learn how valuable having dependable backup was. Sora especially could speak from experience on how great having a team to watch your back could be, having worked with Donald and Goofy throughout most of his adventures, and even from his experiences in teaming up with people from certain worlds, and while the rest of his friends did not work in groups as often as Sora had, they did have at least a little experience in working together with someone else to know how much help that could be. The only question now was how were they going to ensure that they all ended up on the same team?

Normally, none of the four would be too picky about who they would work with in a group, but considering that they were trying their best to keep it secret that they were all from other worlds, along with how they would likely need to leave Remnant at any time if something or someone started stirring up trouble on another world, the four Keyblade wielders all agreed that it would be better for them to end up on a team together. They just wished that they knew how teams were formed, because it would make forming a strategy that would guarantee that happening a lot easier. So, once they were suited up and ready to move out, they spent a little extra time in the locker rooms listening in on the conversations that the other first year students were having on the topic, hoping that they could at least glean a clue about how the process worked.

Their attempts at gathering clues did not go very well, but their listening in did allow them to take notice of a small argument between a certain pair of sisters. "My dearest sister Yang, are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me," they heard Ruby demanding.

"W-what? No! Of course I do," Yang insisted, not noticing that some of their newest friends were coming over.

"Morning you two," Sora greeted cheerily, breaking up the argument between the sisters as he and Ventus approached.

"Hey Sora," Ruby waved happily in return, her previously cross mood vanishing in an instant. She then looked to his blonde companion and said, "Hi Roxas."

"Sorry, wrong spiky haired blonde. My name's Ventus, but you can just call me Ven," Ventus revealed.

"Oh wow, Lea wasn't kidding when he said you looked like you could be Roxas's twin brother," Yang noted as she and Ruby looked him over, picking up on all the similarities between him and the dual Keyblade wielder.

"Yeah, we get that a lot," Ventus nodded. "So, I'm guessing you two are excited for initiation, huh?"

"You know it," Ruby proudly cheered as she pulled her scythe out of the locker she stored it in yesterday. "Despite what Yang says, there's going to be no more awkward small talk or 'getting to know you' stuff, because today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking."

"Your sweetheart," Ventus questioned.

"She's talking about her scythe," Yang explained. "Ruby's a total weapons nerd. She thinks that seeing new weapons is better than meeting new people."

"Huh, you don't say," Ventus nodded, knowing that Sora was likely going to change that view soon enough just from hanging around Ruby. The guy just had that effect on people. He then looked to Ruby again to see her cuddling her scythe and asked, "So…she has that thing's safety turned on, right?"

"My beautiful Crescent Rose would never hurt me," Ruby cooed happily.

"Okay…So, we've been hearing some people talking about teams. Any chance you guys know what's up with that," Ventus inquired. When Yang and Ruby both looked at him in wonder, he explained, "I only had time to skim through the brochure before I found out that someone had enrolled our group at this school."

"It's pretty normal. Every year, the new students get grouped up into teams of four. It's pretty much normal at every Huntsmen academy. Didn't you guys know that," Yang replied.

"Uh…No, not really," Sora sheepishly shrugged. "But it does sound like it could be fun to have a group of friends working with you to help you get through the school year like that, if not the entire time you're attending the school. Kinda wish my old school did that, too. It would have been a huge help at times."

"Tell that to Ruby," Yang informed him. "She thinks she doesn't need to meet new people and learn to work together with them in order to grow up."

"I still don't see what meeting people has to do with fighting, and again, I don't need people to help me grow up. I drink milk," Ruby declared with pride.

"I don't think she means growing up in the literal sense, Ruby, and you'd be surprised how much meeting people has to do with fighting," Sora told her. "Meeting other people helps you to form connections with others that will see you through good and tough times, right to the point where you wouldn't even need a weapon to help you fight. Not so long as you've got a strong heart that's filled with ties to others."

Yang nodded in approval of this, while Ventus just smiled, having heard and given similar speeches to that before, but only the former made any kind of comment afterwards. "You know something, Ruby? Maybe you should be on a team with Sora. Not only would you get to spend more time with your first boyfriend, but he could really be a huge help for you in breaking out of your shell."

At first, Ruby and Sora were blushing up a storm when Yang mentioned the boyfriend thing again, while Ventus was just nervous about how Sora would react to it, but when her sister finished talking, Ruby went from flustered to indignant. "What the!? I don't need to break out of my shell," Ruby snapped in response. "That's absolutely…"

"Ridiculous! There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would've remembered having to count that high. Ugh, why does this have to happen today," Jaune moaned as he passed by the four, studying a sheet of paper that he had wrote his locker number down on in the hope that he had made a mistake.

While Sora, Ven, and the sisters continued talking, Lea had noticed that Jaune was having trouble, and soon went to provide some assistance. Upon getting a better look at Jaune's paper, he quickly figured out what the problem was. "I think you may be looking for locker 36 in aisle six," the redhead stated. Jaune's head immediately snapped in Lea's direction, and the redhead explained, "See the dash there? That's probably to indicate what aisle your locker is in."

Jaune turned back to his paper to study it again, and said, "Huh. I didn't notice that because of the smudge. Thanks Lea."

Lea nodded in return and was about to go back to his friends when his eyes came to rest on something that made him scowl. "Oh great. Ice Princess again," the former Number VIII of Organization XIII moaned, having spotted Weiss talking to a girl with red hair and decked out in gladiator armor that looked like it could have come from Olympus.

Jaune had gotten his weapons from his locker by that point, and had ended up overhearing his comment when he got back to him. When he looked to see who Lea was talking about, Jaune ended up coming to the wrong conclusion, and asked, "She a friend of yours?"

"Don't insult me," Lea huffed in return. "After the way Schnee treated some of my pals, I wouldn't be caught dead hanging out with her."

"Well, maybe she just hasn't met the right people yet. I mean, she seems pretty nice from where I'm standing," Jaune argued in Weiss's defense.

Lea had to admit that Jaune was right to say that Weiss was acting nice to the redhead, but after working with the likes of Vexen, Marluxia, and Ienzo back when he was Zexion, he was more than well acquainted with the signs of someone who was only being nice just to get ahead in some way. Whether or not the gladiator girl was aware of this, Lea was not so sure, but he would admit that it was nice to see that the bratty girl was not acting like her usual stuck-up, cranky self for once. "Maybe, but so far, I've never really gotten that impression," Lea told Jaune.

"Hey, people can act different around certain folks. It just takes the right bit of courage to really bring out their better side," Jaune insisted.

"That's some pretty tough talk, Vomit-boy. When's the last time you asked a girl for her number," Lea challenged.

Jaune just turned to Lea and stated, "Watch and learn."

"I'm watching," Lea nodded, and with that, Jaune strolled over to the two girls so that he could introduce himself.

"You know what else is great? Me, Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you," Jaune introduced himself, attempting to act all suave and confident, but the only thing he did was bring an annoyed look to Weiss's face while Lea just sighed in disappointment, feeling like this was not going to go well.

"Do you mind," Weiss questioned, dropping her nice girl act for her usual attitude.

"Nice to meet you, Jaune," the redhead smiled in greeting, a fact that Lea easily picked up on.

Jaune did not seem to notice the redhead's eagerness, as he simply kept his attention on the heiress before him. "So, Weiss, been hearing rumors about teams. I was thinking you and me would make a good one. What do you say?"

"Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so…" the redhead girl informed Jaune, giving Lea another fact to file away on the team matter for later. Jaune on the other hand took that information and rolled with it in a different way.

"You don't say. Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team," Jaune proudly informed the redhead, making Lea chuckle a little out of pity, already seeing this going from rocky to straight up downhill.

For some reason, the red haired girl still smiled at Jaune's declaration, but that did not stop Lea from feeling that he should step in and try to save the poor boy's skin. "Really? I'd love to see how you would get her on that team when it's already got a full set of four. Those four being Sora, Ventus, Roxas, and of course, yours truly," Lea commented as he walked over.

"Ugh, and now I've got to deal with you again," Weiss grumbled.

"Nice to see you too, Ice Princess," Lea shot back.

Before the redhead could ask anything of Lea, Weiss just moved in between her and the two boys and asked, "Jaune and…Louise, is it?"

"It's Lea. Get it memorized."

"Right, whatever. Anyways, do you either of you have any idea who this is," Weiss then questioned as she indicated warrior girl.

"Nope, not yet," Lea replied.

"Not in the slightest, Snow Angel," Jaune said, making Lea do a full face-palm.

"Yeah, there's no saving this now," Lea muttered to himself, even as Weiss carried on.

"This is Pyrrha," Weiss introduced, ignoring Jaune's attempt at giving her a pet name.

"Hello again," Pyrrha waved merrily, basically being the exact opposite of Weiss in every way imaginable.

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum," Weiss continued. Clearly she felt that she would have to do all the bragging on Pyrrha's behalf.

"Impressive," Lea nodded, not sounding nearly as impressed as Weiss was probably expecting.

"Never heard of it," Jaune shrugged with a smile.

"Ah! She's won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row…A new record," Weiss added on, thinking that might stir up some ideas for the two.

"Again, impressive," Lea responded in the same way as he had before.

"The what," Jaune asked.

Now Weiss was at her wits end. Not only did the blonde idiot not getting a clue about what she was trying to tell him, but the red haired hothead she met last night was just acting like everything she said was no big deal, so she just went for thing that she could think of that at least one of these two would give some kind of reaction to. "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!"

This time, Jaune reacted in the way that Weiss was expecting, as he let out an excited gasp and exclaimed, "That's you?! They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

"Yeah, it was pretty cool," Pyrrha shrugged like it was no big deal. Her smile ended up turning into a frown though when she admitted, "Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."

"How many cereals are," Lea questioned. He then turned to Jaune and asked, "More importantly, _that's_ the thing that helps you recognize her? Really man?"

Much as she loathed admitting it, Weiss did have to agree with Lea on that, even if only in her head, so she pressed on before the thought of admitting it out loud could make her sick. "So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?"

"I guess not. Sorry," Jaune apologized, hanging his head low as his previous display of confidence was shattered.

"Hey, it wouldn't stop me or any of my friends. Sora especially," Lea shrugged. When Weiss shot him a disbelieving look, he just shrugged and stated, "We don't really care that much about a person's titles and accomplishments. I mean, they're pretty cool, sure, but we're more interested in the person than what they can do or have done."

"That's very noble of you," Pyrrha complimented. She then turned to Jaune and stated, "And actually, Jaune, I'd think you'd make a great leader."

"D'oh, stop it," Jaune cooed.

"Seriously, please stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged," Weiss pleaded.

"Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for Team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick," Jaune informed Weiss, now back in his attempts at flirting. Lea tried signaling for the kid to stop, but Jaune either did not notice or was unable to read the signs all that well, because he just kept on going, regardless. "Now, I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings. Find a place for you. What do you say?"

Lea just sighed the minute Jaune had finished, and began counting down in his head for the moment when Jaune's downfall finally hit him. He fully expected Weiss to straight up slap Jaune, not just for the words, but also for the fact that the kid was getting a little too close for her comfort, but instead, she quickly begged Pyrrha for help in getting him to back off. Running on instinct, Pyrrha quickly drew her javelin and tossed it, sending Jaune flying away and pinning him to a wall by his hoodie. Now Lea was impressed, both by his fellow redhead's quick draw skill, and her accuracy. Sure, it was basically point-blank range, but he did not remember Xaldin ever being able to pull that off as well as Pyrrha just had. Of course, he also never remembered Xaldin apologizing for doing something like that either, or for anything really, like Pyrrha did after the fact, so his respect for the warrior girl had definitely gone up quite a bit.

He was about to comment on the whole thing, when Glynda's voice suddenly came over the intercom, announcing, _"Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."_

"Looks like its show time," Lea grinned excitedly upon hearing that, as the rest of his friends started to join him, while Weiss and Pyrrha headed out ahead of them.

"It was nice meeting you," Pyrrha smiled to Jaune as she retrieved her javelin.

"Likewise," Jaune sighed in dejection after he had dropped to the floor.

Normally, Lea would not kick a guy when he's down, but the opportunity was just too good to pass up. "You know what I learned from watching that, Jaune? A few new things about what not to do to impress a girl."

"Having trouble there, Ladykiller," Yang asked once she and Ruby had joined the two with the rest of the Keybearers.

"I don't understand," Jaune bemoaned. "My dad said all women look for is confidence. Where did I go wrong?"

"'Snow angel' probably wasn't the best start," Yang advised.

"Agreed," Lea nodded. "Besides, you can't fake real confidence. You've got to have a little more confidence in who you are as well before anything else, and that means that you've got to accept that you do have a few weak points as well as strong points. Got it memorized?"

"I guess," Jaune shrugged.

Ventus then decided it was high time that Jaune got names to go with the faces of the two people he was not entirely familiar with yet, and said, "Oh, by the way, Jaune, these are our friends, Ruby and Yang. Ruby, Yang, this is Jaune."

"Yeah, we've kinda already met on the airship over," Yang admitted.

"We did," Jaune asked. His face then paled when recognition flashed through his eyes, and he asked, "You were the girl who's shoe I threw up on, aren't you? Sorry about that."

"Aw, no big deal. I was able to clean it up pretty easily afterwards," Yang waved off. "But yeah, you're probably going to be stuck with us calling you Vomit-boy for a while after that."

"Oh great," Jaune moaned.

"Hey, it could be worse. You could have accidentally puked in her hair," Ruby shrugged, before she let out a small shudder. "She would definitely want to kill you then."

"That's not too surprising. Most girls are sensitive about their hair anyways," Lea shrugged.

"Trust me, it's a lot worse in Yang's case," Ruby warned, and for some reason, Sora, Roxas, and Ventus all felt a shiver go up their spine that made them feel inclined to believe her.

"Well, then I guess she'd better hope she never fights me, because I can't always control the level of collateral damage I inflict. Got it memorized?"

"Do you always say that, or any other variation of it," Jaune asked.

"Yes, yes he does," Roxas confirmed. "It's his go-to catchphrase, so you don't really need to seriously memorize most of the things he says. I wouldn't try to anyways, considering not all of his advice is that great."

"Um, excuse you, but I seem to recall that my advice was something you sought out on principle for months after we first met, and still do from time to time," Lea grinned back.

"Doesn't mean that all of it was great," Roxas jabbed in return.

"Okay, you guys, you can wrestle and joke around later. We've got a test to ace with flying colors," Sora interrupted, knowing that those two would do just that once they got going.

The others all nodded in agreement and then began making their way out of the locker room and over to Beacon Cliff. At least, they did once Ruby and Sora had helped Jaune back on his feet again. The poor boy certainly needed a friend or two to lean on after what had just happened.

* * *

When all the first year students had arrived at the cliff, they were directed over to a line of metal pads and told to stand on said pads. Sora and his friends were all a little confused on how that was supposed to help show they were ready to become students at Beacon, but none of them questioned it too much. They were sure that the answer would reveal itself in due time, so they just settled for listening to the instructions and speeches that Ozpin and Goodwitch were giving as they stood before the gathered students.

"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest," Ozpin began.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion," Goodwitch noted as she gazed over the various kids, and giving the Keyblade wielders some form of relief over the fact that they were finally going to get answers on that very subject. "Each of you will be given teammates…Today."

"What? Aw…" Ruby whined in a worried voice, while the Keyblade wielders began to grow a little worried. Not to any great extent, as they were sure that they could still find a way to end up on the same team together.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well," Ozpin carried on from where Glynda left off, unknowingly drawing another scared whimper from Ruby with his words. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

While the Keyblade wielders were now a little more concerned after hearing that, it did help them feel a bit more reassured in the fact that, even if they were not all on the same team, they did now have a way to guarantee that they would at least end up with one other person in their group. Ruby on the other hand felt like her world had just shattered, and she squeaked out a very worried, "What?!"

"See? I told you," the hyper redhead from earlier that morning could be heard telling her friend.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die. You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately," Ozpin finished, making sure to keep the instructions as clear and simple for everyone before asking the obvious question that always followed afterwards. "Are there any questions?"

"I got one. Will we lose any points for any collateral damage to the forest, like say, small forest fires that would likely burn down several surrounding trees," Lea asked, earning an eye-roll from his friends and incredulous looks from many of the other students.

"Not too seriously, no. As I said, it would be in your best interest to not hold back if you wish to survive," Ozpin replied.

"That's all I need to hear," Lea grinned savagely.

"Oh boy," Roxas, Sora, and Ventus all sighed as one, knowing where that particular grin normally led.

"Any other questions," Ozpin asked. Jaune raised his hand to ask one, but this time, Ozpin swiftly ignored it. "Good! Now, take your positions."

All at once, every one of the students had crouched down like they were about to jump forwards or charge into battle at any second, save for Jaune, and since they figured it was better to follow the crowd, Sora and the others all dropped into their own battle stances, without summoning their weapons. Jaune still attempted to ask his question, but at that point, the four had tuned him out, as they were more preoccupied by the fact that their future classmates were all being launched into the air by the platforms, which turned out to be catapults. As more students were sent flying, the rest were either getting more excited or more tense at their upcoming flights, but whether they were ready or not did not really matter at that point.

When the redhead from earlier let out a jubilant cheer, Ventus could not help but comment, "It's official; she's very easily excited by everything."

"You have no idea," the excited girl's friend commented before turning to introduce himself. "Lie Ren. Ren to my friends."

"Ventus Kunsanagi. Call me Ven," the blonde replied.

Ren nodded in return and then simply said, "Best of luck, Ven."

With that, the green-clad boy was sent flying, with Ventus not far behind him, followed Roxas, another large boy in armor, and then Lea, who could not help but throw a challenging smirk towards Yang before he went. Yang was more than happy to accept that challenge, and she threw a quick wink to her sister before sliding a pair of sunglasses on and letting herself be catapulted away with an excited whoop of her own. Ruby only smirked in response to her sister's wink, and then offered one to Sora as she mouthed out, "Good luck."

Sora could barely finish forming his returning smile before Ruby was sent off, right when Jaune was about to ask his final question. "So, um, what exactly is a landing strateGYYYYY?!"

After Sora watched Jaune flail in the air after getting catapulted up for a couple seconds, he looked to Ozpin and said, "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"I admit nothing, Mister Hikari," Ozpin replied, but Sora was still able to see the smallest hints of an amused smile on his face before he was thrown into the Emerald Forrest as well. He then turned to watch the future Huntsmen of Remnant and the young Keyblade wielders sail through the air to the Grimm infested forest, calmly sipping on his mug of coffee all the while, and quietly murmured, "Now, let's see what these heroes of the Second Keyblade War are truly capable of."

* * *

"BIRDY NO," Ruby could be heard shouting as she descended to the forest. Of course, whether or not anyone heard her besides Sora, the Keybearer could not say. He was a little busy using his Glide ability to float down the remained of the way to the forest, and from the look of things, it seemed that Ventus and Roxas were doing the same. Lea, he was not so sure about, because as far as Sora knew, Lea had not learned all of the same abilities as the rest of them, so he had no idea how the redhead was going to land safely. Then again, the sound of various, fiery explosions could have been a clue as to how Lea planned on doing so, but given all the gunshots and explosions that he had been hearing recently, that could have been just about anyone here. Either way, he would probably have to try and find Lea later on to make sure he was okay, assuming one of the other two did not find him first.

Setting that goal aside, Sora finally coasted down past the tree line of the Emerald Forest, and ceased all further use of Glide so that he could drop straight to the ground, but not before he used Kingdom Key to spin around a branch or two so that his landing did not end up injuring him. He may have survived his fair share of large falls and drops before, but that did not mean he was willing to really test how good his endurance and pain tolerance was. When his feet hit the ground again, Sora dismissed Kingdom Key and prepared to set out into the forest, making sure to take care of where his eyes wandered in case he came across another student before he met with one of his fellow Keyblade wielders. Sure, it may have been a little mean or even rude to do that, but considering that your partner was decided based on who you first made eye contact with after landing, Sora knew it was going to have to be a necessary evil if he wanted to be partnered up with one of his friends.

At the sound of someone landing in front of him, Sora quickly locked his gaze on the ground, until a familiar voice asked, "Nice use of Glide back there. Think anyone would believe it if we said it was part of your semblance or something?"

"Hey, it's not like anyone was really paying that much attention at the time unless they were already down here," Sora smirked in return as he looked up to see Ventus standing before him with a grin on his face. "Besides, I know you were doing the same thing."

"Well, if you've got it, then you should use it, especially when the situation calls for it," Ventus shrugged while resting his hands behind his head in a way that was just like how Sora did. "So, looks like you and I are partners now, huh?"

"Yep. You know in a way, this will be a lot like old times," Sora said, earning a curious look from the blonde. "Hey, you've been watching my back without me realizing it for years now, and even before I knew it, I was saving your life for even longer, all because I was keeping your heart safe inside of mine."

Ventus smiled once he heard that bit of reasoning, and said, "I guess that's one way of looking at it, but this time is definitely different. I'm going to actually be fighting alongside you for real now, and I'll be wide awake the entire time too." That got the two boys to let out a brief laugh for a short time, but not to the point where they forgot what they had to do right now in order to get through initiation. "So, what's our next move?"

"Well, I know that we should head for that temple and get the relic Ozpin mentioned, but I'm a little worried about Axel. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know how to use Glide like the rest of us," Sora informed Ventus.

"Don't worry. I caught a glimpse of him on my way down. He was using his fire powers to help slow his descent like an improvised jet engine or something. I think Roxas had landed close to where he was, so I'm sure they'll be fine and partnered up with each other by now," Ventus reassured him. When Sora smiled in relief, the blonde knew he had alleviated at least one of his friend's worries, so that just left their main objective to address. "Now, how do we get to the forest temple from here?"

"We head this way," Sora replied, already walking in the direction he had indicated.

"Wait, what? How do you know that," Ventus asked, surprised at how sure Sora sounded, especially after hearing about how often Sora would stumble around trying to find places in his previous travels.

"Ozpin said that the temple was in the northern part of the forest, right," Sora reminded him. When Ventus nodded in reply, he continued on, saying, "Well, one thing that I've found as normal in just about every world is that the sun almost always rises in the east and sets in the west. Remnant is no different, and since its still morning, the sun's still in the east, which means north, is that-a-way."

"Okay, but _how_ do you know that," Ventus repeated, still not quite getting how Sora could be so intelligible on this matter.

"I live and grew up on a world made up of Islands, Ven. That means everybody at least learns the basics of sailing even before they're old enough to learn how to drive a car," Sora answered as simply as possible. "Using the sun and stars as a way of charting a course or what direction you need to go in is one of the oldest sailing tricks in the book."

"Oh. Right," Ventus nodded, now feeling a little sheepish for forgetting about the fact that Sora's home was Destiny Islands. Riku had even mentioned that nearly everyone there had learned the basics of traveling by sea to him once, so Ventus really felt like he should have considered Sora knew as well, even without his adventures at sea when he visited the Caribbean.

Forgetfulness about old conversations and past experiences aside, the boys did now have a direction to travel, and they took to it as fast as they could. The sooner they grabbed a relic, the sooner that they could figure out a way to ensure that Roxas and Lea would be on a team with them too. Not that they planned on ignoring anyone that may have ended up needing help if they ran into someone along the way, of course.

* * *

"Aw yeah! The dream team is back, baby," Lea cheered happily as he and Roxas made their way through the forest. Just like Ventus had suspected, the two best friends had landed very close to one another, and had quickly become partners. As one could tell from the redhead's jubilant cheering, Lea was very glad to know that his best friend would be his partner for the rest of their time at Beacon, whether they spent the next four years at the school or not.

Roxas was just as happy as his best friend of course, and made sure that Lea knew it too, but he still could not stop himself from pointing out the problem they were facing, "Can't really say we're a dream team since neither of us knows which direction we need to go," the blonde said.

"Pfft! Like we need to worry about stuff like that. With our luck, we'll find our way to that temple without even trying," Lea confidently boasted.

"Or we could end up walking right into a nesting ground for any variety of the Grimm," Roxas pointed out. "You know, like that one time when we were at Halloween Town on a mission for the old Organization?"

"…You're just never gonna let that go, are you," Lea asked.

"I was blasted with ghost flames from a dozen Gargoyle Heartless multiple times over, hit with so many lightning and ice attacks you would think that I had been hit by an attack from Larxene and Vexen at the same time, and nearly flattened by _at least_ ten different Large Bodies, all because you thought it would be a good idea to cut through that one graveyard! What do you think," Roxas reminded his best friend.

"We were fine! It's not like we nearly died, or something," Lea protested.

"Said the man who caused those Gargoyles to come after us because he thought it would be a good idea to set a bunch of gravestones on fire."

"They were the key to a secret passage! I thought we needed to do something special to open it up when just tapping and pushing on the things did nothing!"

Their argument, though not entirely serious, had to be put on pause, when they heard a loud roar echoing in the distance. Knowing that it had to be one of, if not a small pack of the Grimm, the two former Nobodies set out to see if any of the other students were fighting said creature at the moment. As it turned out, someone was doing just that right then: one Lie Ren and his redheaded friend to be exact. What really surprised the two was how the girl was just dancing around the creatures like her life was not at risk, grinning like a maniac the whole time. Apparently, Ren was not too concerned about it, as he was busy shooting some of the bear-like Grimm, which Lea and Roxas had learned were called Ursai, with his pistols.

Seeing another Ursa coming up from behind the redhead, Lea took the initiative and rushed in to help, his Keyblade coming into his hand in a blaze of fire. One simple swing later, and the Ursa was easily beheaded by the fire-themed Keyblade, and another three soon followed when Lea shot off a powerful fire spell at them. Ren and his friend barely paid it much notice beyond acknowledging the new arrivals were there, which served Roxas pretty well, as it meant he would not have to jump in and save anyone before he went to town on the Beowolves that were now starting to slink into the clearing as well, making it a point to only use his Keyblades when taking them down, as he wanted to save his strength for a moment when it would matter most.

Unlike the last time that the Keyblade wielders fought the Grimm, they were now fully rested and ready for anything, so they managed to tear apart any of the dark, soulless creatures that came within their crosshairs easily, and since that was the case, they took some time to analyze Ren and his friend's fighting style and weaponry. Not that they were able to get too much on the redhead, seeing as she appeared to be acting as a distraction for the most part, until she finally drew the weapon she was carrying on her back, and fired on the monsters, revealing it to be a grenade launcher. The explosions that followed definitely left quite the mark on both creatures and surroundings, but more importantly, it left several Grimm disoriented enough for Ren to rush in and slash them apart with the blades on his pistols, with Roxas following up to cut down any that he had missed.

The last of the Grimm met their end by Lea's hands, as he transformed Flame Liberator into his chakrams, coated them in fire, and tossed the blazing, metal weapons through every Grimm that was left. With a snap of his fingers, the flames instantly expanded, burning the Grimm until even their ashes were incinerated, while also setting a few trees on fire. Seeing this amount of overkill from Lea was nothing new to Roxas, but it was to the other two, even as the redhead caught his weapons on their return trip and transformed them back into Keyblade form, so the blonde was a little worried about how they would react.

It turned out he did not have anything to really worry about, as the girl was still grinning, even as she zipped over to Lea and excitedly screamed, "That was awesome!"

"And a little excessive, maybe," Ren pointed out.

"Hey, if they couldn't stand the heat, then they should've ran when they saw me," Lea lightly jested in return, earning a tired sigh from Roxas as he shook his head.

The girl apparently did not notice any of this, as she was already launching into a rapid barrage of questions. "How'd you do all that stuff with the fire? What's your weapon called? What's your name? Where are you from? Do you like pancakes? Do you want to be best friends?"

"Nora! Please! Slow down," Ren half-shouted, raising his voice for the first time that day, at least as far as Roxas was aware.

Nora did not seem too bothered by her friend's outburst anymore than Lea was by the girl's rapid rate of speaking when she asked his questions. Even more shocking to Ren though, was the fact that Lea was able to actually answer all of that. "Controlling fire is part of my semblance, my weapon is a Keyblade known as Flame Liberator, the name's Lea Firebrand, I'm from a town that's really far away from any of the kingdoms, I like pancakes alright, and sure, why not? You seem pretty cool…Nora, is it?" While Nora just nodded with a happy hum, Lea noticed that Ren was staring at him in awe, to which he explained, "A couple of my friends are a lot like her when they're on a serious sugar rush. You either learn how to interpret hyper speak, or you just pray that it ends quickly and they shut down from the overload soon. Got it memorized?"

Ren could only nod, not really able to think of anything he could say, but Nora on the other hand did have one idea. "I like this guy, Ren."

"Yeah, that's what I'm a little afraid of," Roxas muttered, thinking that there was a chance that he would now have to deal with two Leas. He then turned to the more sane-looking of the pair and said, "You had some pretty good moves back there. I almost had a hard time just keeping track of where you were at some points. Almost."

"Thanks, Ven," Ren nodded in return.

"Uh, sorry, wrong blonde, but you are pretty close since Ven is a friend of ours. My name's Roxas," the dual Keyblade wielder corrected.

"Oh, sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Roxas then glanced over to see Lea and Nora were having their own conversation, and while he could not hear all of it, he did pick up on a mention of sea-salt ice cream at least once. He had a feeling that Lea would try to get him in on that conversation, and as much as he would have loved to tell someone else about the wonders of his favorite ice cream flavor, they had a much more important matter to deal with. "So, I don't suppose you guys know which way we need to go in order to reach that temple, do you?"

"We were actually just heading that way now," Ren informed the blonde. "You two are welcome to join us, if you like."

"Gladly. It's better than what Axel had in mind for getting us there," Roxas smiled in relieved thanks. When Ren looked at him in confusion, Roxas knew what the boy was likely wondering about, and said, "It's Lea's nickname from a while back, but he prefers his real name these days, unless he says otherwise."

Ren nodded in reply to that, and then proceeded to move on, calling out to Nora as he went to let her know that they were leaving the area now. The two redheads quickly fell in step behind their best friends, but the whole group paused once again when Lea looked up and asked, "Hey guys, what are the bird-like Grimm called again?"

"Nevermores. Why," Ren asked.

"Because there's a really big one circling around somewhere close to here," Lea revealed, pointing in the direction he had spotted the creature.

Looking up at where Lea was pointing, the other three discovered that, sure enough, a massive Nevermore seemed to be flying around near the area that they were moving towards. That alone would have had some of them worried, but it was not until Roxas said something that they grew even more concerned. "Is there…Is there someone riding on that thing?"

"Come on, Roxas. Who would be crazy enough to ride on the back of a savage, killer monster like that," Lea asked as though he had just heard something silly. When he looked again though, he saw that there did appear to be someone on the bird, and said, "Oh, I guess those people would be crazy enough to do that."

"Or absolutely brilliant! We'd be able to get to the Forest Temple in no time," Nora cheered with a look in her eyes that Ren recognized and more often than not, feared.

He was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he remembered that they had destroyed all the Grimm in their area earlier, when another Ursa suddenly burst onto the scene, and Nora's manic grin grew a little more. "Nora, no," Ren pleaded.

"NORA, YES!"

"Oh boy. I have a bad feeling about this," Roxas groaned as the girl took off towards the bear-like monster.

"Why? This looks like it'll be fun," Lea grinned savagely before he followed the girl.

"And the bad feeling just got worse."

* * *

Roxas and Lea were not the only ones to meet up with some of the other students, because it was not long after they started their trek that Sora and Ventus ran across Yang and Blake. Not that it was hard to find the girls, considering that the Keyblade wielders had heard a massive explosion just seconds before some of the forest was burnt down in a straight path. To be honest, they had been expecting to find Lea when they arrived, so it was a little shocking to see Yang and Blake staring at one another as a recently killed Ursa faded into ash. When they finally managed to ask what happened, Yang just chuckled and admitted that the other Ursa she had killed before Blake stepped in had cut off a strand of her hair. After Blake confirmed that to be true, the two boys made shivered a little, and made another mental note to avoid messing with Yang's hair in addition to the one they made earlier when Ruby warned them against touching said girl's yellow locks.

After that point, the four had ended up traveling together to the find the Forest Temple, without a single Grimm in sight. Ventus had joked that Yang's tantrum probably scared a good number of the monsters off, but what he found surprising was that Yang actually laughed and agreed with him. It was hard to say if it was because she was that confident or just overestimating herself that much, but after seeing the destruction she could cause from a distance, the boys did think that she was a little justified in being so cocky. Of course, they were not complaining about the lack of enemies to fight, but Sora and Ventus did not once run across the Creatures of Grimm since their arrival in the forest, so you could not fault them for feeling a little bored.

Eventually, they finally reached what seemed to be the temple that they were looking for, and quickly proceeded down so that they could grab one of the relics that Ozpin had said they would need to retrieve. Not that they really felt much a need to rush, but given that other students were liable to show up soon, or maybe more of the Grimm, it did make sense that they would want to grab a relic and go as soon as possible. When they arrived and saw the relics themselves, all four were a little surprised by what they found lining the circumference of the circular ruins.

"Chess pieces," Blake identified with a questioning tone.

"Well, not the weirdest looking relics I've seen," Sora admitted, thinking back all the various types of treasures he had seen on his adventures, including a certain lamp.

"Some of them are missing though," Yang noted as he examined the various pieces around them. "Looks like we weren't the first ones here."

"Well…I guess we should each just pick one," Blake shrugged.

"I don't know. What if there's a significance to which pieces we choose," Ventus asked, getting curious looks from the other three. "Each of the teams at Beacon are made up of four people, right? Well, Ozpin only mentioned how our first teammate would be decided. He never said anything about the other two. What if the relics we choose have something to do with it?"

"Ven's got a point. We should think carefully about which one we pick, especially since we don't know if any of the missing pieces were picked up by people we know and would want on our team," Sora agreed.

Yang and Blake could both see the reasoning behind the two's thinking, and carefully studied which pairs of chess pieces were still present while the boys did the same. Oddly enough, they noticed that even the pieces that normally only had one for each side, meaning the king and queen pieces, had a matching pair in the same color, and the two white king pieces were still there. Seeing that, Sora quickly scooped up one of the white king pieces, thinking that it would serve to clue in Lea and Roxas on which one they should grab if they came to the same conclusion that he and Ventus had, and from the nod that Ventus gave, he knew that his partner agreed with his choice, even if it was a little cheesy and obvious in its own way.

Yang's decision came to her much more easily than Sora's, as she found a pair of chess pieces that were still complete, and quickly scooped one of them up. "How about a cute little pony," Yang asked her partner.

"Sure," Blake agreed with a small smile, even if she did roll her eyes a little at the childish glee her partner had used when announcing her decision.

The two pairs then met in the middle of the ruins, just as Yang said, "That wasn't too hard."

"Well, it's not like this place is very difficult to find," Blake pointed out.

"No kidding. I'm surprised Lea and Roxas haven't stumbled upon this place already just from walking in a random direction," Ventus admitted.

The remark had actually worried Sora a little bit, and he could not help but ask, "Do you think we should wait for them, just to be on the safe side?"

"I'm sure your friends are fine. All we need to worry about is getting back to the cliff with our relics," Blake reasoned. The way she said it may have sounded a little cold, but she had intended it to come off as reassuring in her own way.

Yang was about to voice her agreement with Blake when a very high-pitched shriek suddenly echoed from somewhere in the forest, making all four of them worried. "Some girl's in trouble," Yang exclaimed as she looked in the direction that she thought the scream came from. "You guys all heard that too, right?"

"Kind of hard to miss," Ventus pointed out, with Sora nodding in agreement.

When Blake did not say anything, Yang turned to her partner to see her looking up at the sky, and asked, "Blake? What should we do?"

Blake's only response was to look back at Yang while pointing upwards, just in time for everyone to hear a familiar voice calling out, "HEAD'S UUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPP!"

Turning their gazes to the sky, Yang, Ventus, and Sora were all stunned to see Ruby dropping down at break-neck speeds, flailing about as she dropped. Seeing his friend in trouble, Sora broke into a run, while shouting, "Ven, give me a boost!"

Ventus barely had time to even nod in recognition of the request before Sora had jumped as high as he could, but he still managed to cast a quick wind spell just ahead of his friend, creating a small whirlwind in front of Sora. Upon entering said whirlwind, Sora could feel his Flowmotion powers activating, and used that extra boost to rocket himself towards Ruby even faster. Soon after, he managed to catch the red-hooded girl in his arms, and after making sure he had her secure in at least one arm, Sora summoned out his Keyblade, pointed it towards the nearest tree branch he could see, and used his Airstep abilities to pull them over to said branch. Upon making contact with the branch, Sora allowed his Flowmotion to carry him and Ruby through a quick spin around the tree limb, and then launch them both off in the direction of the other three. When they finally landed again, the blue aura of Sora's Flowmotion faded away, and Ruby could be seen holding tightly onto Sora with her eyes closed.

"You okay, Ruby," Sora asked, prompting the girl to finally open her eyes.

When she turned her gaze to her rescuer, Ruby found her eyes locking with Sora's, and almost instantly froze up as she felt her cheeks go hot. From her perspective, Ruby thought she could see a very passionate fire in Sora's eyes that she had only heard about from the stories of the heroes in her favorite books, yet at the same time, she saw something else as well. It was hard for her to really describe what it was that she was seeing, but not for reasons that Yang would probably suspect. There was definitely a very real warmth in them that reflected kindness Sora had shown her up until now, but more than that, Ruby felt like she could see a hidden trace of fear. It was like he was truly afraid that she would have died just then, and beyond that fear, there was something else; a deep sense of hurt that she could not quite identify.

Whether she recognized it or not hardly mattered at the moment, as she had unintentionally tuned out the world around her the moment she had realized who had caught her, and as a result, she had ended up leaving Sora's question unanswered until he repeated it again. Not that she was really able to give too much of a reply at the moment, given that her brain felt like mush right then. "Y-yeah. I think so," Ruby slowly answered without much thinking.

"Great. So…can you let go now? I kinda can't breathe," Sora told her.

It was only at that point that Ruby realized that Sora had set her back on her feet, and she was now holding onto Sora for no real reason. At least, none that she could think of right then, but she still jumped back with a small yelp once she had released her hold on him, stuttering a small apology after the fact. "Did your sister just fall from the sky," Blake asked Yang. She then turned to Ventus and asked, "And did you just launch your friend into the air with a mini-tornado?"

"Uh…" Ventus nervously replied, doubting that Sora was going to be able to give him much help right now since he was busy making sure Ruby was okay.

"I…" Yang tried to answer, but unlike Ventus, she ended up being cut off when they all heard something big lumbering towards them.

Shortly after they had turned to the source of the noise, they saw an Ursa lumbering towards them, swinging its arms wildly, and they instantly prepared themselves for a fight. It turned out unnecessary as a small explosion from behind caused it drop down, while someone very excitedly shouted, "YEE-HAW!"

"YEAH," another individual added, and a minute later, Ventus dropped his arms and his jaw at the sight of Lea and Nora tumbling down from the Grimm's back, laughing like a pair of kids that had just gone on a rollercoaster ride. "Now that was awesome," Lea cheered before he looked back at the bear-monster he and his new friend were just riding. His smile then fell a little when he said, "Uh…Nora…"

"Aww, it's broken," Nora moaned sadly upon turning to see the state of the Grimm she and Lea were riding on.

"That sucks," Lea almost whined. "I wanted to go again after we grabbed our relics."

"No! Never again! Do you hear me, Axel," Roxas could be heard shouting as he stepped into the clearing with an exhausted Ren right behind him. "That was almost as bad as that time in Halloween Town," the blonde then muttered under his breath.

"Nora," Ren then panted tiredly to his own crazy friend as she started to examine the Ursa. "Please…don't ever do that again."

"Um…Ren," Lea called out, prompting the boy to look up and see that Nora had disappeared from where she was just standing and rushed over to the relics, having now grabbed one of the white rooks.

After letting the girl dance around for a minute while likely singing some random tune in her head, Ren finally decided to try and get a lid on his friend's antics again, and shouted, "NORA!"

"Hehehe, coming Ren," Nora giggled cutely as she skipped back over to him, leaving a bewildered Yang, Blake, and Ventus in her wake.

"Did those two just ride in on an Ursa," Blake asked, referring to Nora and Lea.

"Roxas, what…" Ventus asked.

"Don't ask. Please, just don't," Roxas interrupted before his look-a-like could finish.

Yang was about to try and comment again, when a shrill sound came from another direction, and they all turned to see Jaune and Pyrrha running for their lives to get away from a huge, scorpion like Grimm. "SOMEBODY HELP," Jaune cried out as he ducked and jumped away from the Grimm's massive claws.

"Jaune, Pyrrha, split up," Lea shouted as he rushed over, his Keyblade at the ready.

The two just did as asked, allowing Lea to unleash a medium level blaze of fire magic right into the scorpion monster's face. When the blast hit, the creature let out a shriek of pain before it backed away from the charging pyro, having seen that his blade looked like a flame as well. It did not break off its chase entirely though, as it was soon turning to go after Pyrrha again, much to Lea's irritation, and Jaune's concern. Jaune was about to join Lea in chasing the monster that was after his partner, when he stopped short upon hearing Ruby say, "Hey Jaune."

"Oh, hey Ruby," Jaune nodded in return. "Hey Sora."

"Hey Jaune," Sora smiled in reply.

"Hey Nora," the ginger-haired girl declared as she stepped in between the three, startling them all a little. When she noticed how they were looking at her weirdly, she just kept smiling and said, "I wanted to be included, too."

"Did you two just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on your tails," Blake then asked Jaune.

"Grrrr…" Yang growled, before she exploded, literally. While everyone was a little surprised at how her hair seemed to just light on fire while her eyes had turned red, they were a little more concerned over the fact that all the craziness had finally made her snap. "I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!"

No one said a word, leaving the whole area quiet save for the sounds of Ren's panting as he came to stand next to Nora, and the sound of the Deathstalker as it entered a fight against Pyrrha and Lea. Exactly two seconds later though, Ruby gently tapped her sister's shoulder, and pointed up at the sky as she nervously said, "Um, Yang…"

The blonde hung her head, almost afraid to look at what her sister was pointing at, and muttering about how she did not mean literally two seconds, but she still did look up along with everyone else to see Weiss hanging from the talons of a massive Nevermore that was circling above them. "How could you leave me," Weiss cried out as the bird cawed from above.

"I said 'jump,'" Ruby called back, weakly.

"Wait a minute. That was you two we saw on that thing," Roxas asked as he glanced between Ruby and the bird that her obvious partner was currently hanging onto for dear life. "How'd you even get on it?"

"Long story," Ruby sighed in response.

"She's gonna fall," Blake then stated.

Ruby just waved her off, saying, "She'll be fine."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Ventus cautioned.

"Why?"

"She's falling," Ren deadpanned in response for the blonde.

Hearing that prompted Sora to start getting ready to rush to the rescue again. He may not be Weiss's biggest fan at the moment, but he was not going to let her fall to her death because of that; he's not that mean. What he did not expect was for someone else to actually beat him to the punch, as Ventus was already charging forward, catapulting himself into the sky with his own wind magic. Upon reaching Weiss, Ventus easily caught her in one arm, and said, "Hold on! I've got you!" After that point, it was just a matter of simply Gliding back down to the ground again, circling around in various directions so that they were not too far from the others, and did not get sick from just going in one big circle the whole time. When they finally landed, Ventus set Weiss on her feet again and said, "Don't worry; you're safe now."

Weiss finally registered what had just happened, she could not help but look between Ventus and her previous position in the sky, amazed at what she just went through, and what the blonde next to her did. At any other time, she probably would have told Ventus off for talking like she was some damsel in distress that needed saving, but for some reason, she could not find it in her to do it this time. Eventually though, she did recover enough of her usual attitude to finally say, "I didn't need you to save me that badly."

"Maybe not, but I just couldn't help it. When I see someone in trouble, I don't really think about anything other than how I can help," Ventus shrugged, not at all phased by Weiss's apparent attitude. Then again, that might have had something to do with the fact that it lacked its usual amount of bite at the moment, or it could have just been because he had not seen her at her worst like the rest of his friends.

It did not look like he was going to see that here either, because Weiss actually smiled at him a little and said, "Well…I suppose, I thanks are in order all the same."

"Ah, don't worry about it," Ventus reassured her.

"Very well then. I won't."

That got Ventus to finally deflate a little, especially with how nonchalantly she had said that, but he still managed to get it together again when he next spoke. "I mean…you could thank me a _little_ bit."

"You should say what you mean," Weiss admonished.

From where he was standing, Sora could not help but smile in amusement, as that conversation reminded him of the last time he had spoken with his friend Auron. It had even gone almost word for word, too, at least until it was brought to a screeching halt by Pyrrha and Lea suddenly dropping right at everyone's feet due to a hard hit they took from the Deathstalker. "And both the mood and sense of déjà vu has been killed," Sora muttered.

"Great! The gang's all here. Now we can die together," Yang sarcastically grumbled aloud.

"Not if I can help it," Ruby smirked, and the next thing anyone knew, she had begun charging at the Deathstalker with a battle cry, drawing her scythe and unfolding it to its full length so that she would be ready to attack at any second.

"Ruby, wait," Sora shouted, worried for his friend, but the girl was already well out of reach, and blasting towards the Deathstalker even faster thanks to a boost of speed from firing her weapon behind her.

That blast of speed put Ruby right within striking distance of the Deathstalker, and she made sure to hit it as hard as she could. Sadly, it was not hard enough, as the scorpion Grimm's armor was just too tough for Ruby's scythe to break through, and to make matters worse, the Deathstalker was also able to retaliate far faster than Ruby was expecting, so she could do nothing to keep herself from being bashed aside by the thing's massive claws. Thankfully she was not too badly hurt, but it did sting quite a bit. Not that she was willing to admit it, because after she had gotten up again, she had quickly shouted, "D-Do-Don't worry! Totally fine!"

"Yeah, I must be watching a different fight, because she does not look fine to me," Lea stated, his worry very clear in his voice. That concern only grew when he saw Ruby slowly turn towards the Deathstalker again, looking much more scared than she had before. Thankfully, she was able to get off a quick shot on the monster with her scythe, and used the recoil of the blast to try and get away, spinning her scythe back into its carrying case on the back of her belt as she ran so that she would not be slowed down too much.

Yang was about to rush out and help her sister, when something strange caught her eye. "Uh, does anyone else see those shadows near Ruby and the Deathstalker moving," Yang questioned.

"Shadows…moving," all four Keyblade wielders repeated, all of them now extremely worried.

"Oh no, don't tell me," Ventus groaned as he looked to where Yang had been with the rest of his friends, ignoring the curious glance that Weiss had given him upon hearing the remark.

Sadly, Ventus's request would end up going unfulfilled, for there, rising up from the ground that they had been slinking through as they approached both Huntress-in-training and her monstrous target-turned-pursuer, were a number of familiar, inky black, beady-eyed monsters that all four Keyblade wielders recognized all too well. "We've got Heartless, boys," Lea shouted as he readied his Keyblade again, with Roxas and Sora doing the same soon after as they joined him in charging their old foes.

"Ugh! I told you not to tell me that," Ventus groaned miserably. All the same, he still summoned out Wayward Wind and made to follow his friends. It did not stop him from continuing to grumble though. "Just _once_ I'd like for us to go somewhere and NOT have to deal with these guys."

"Aw relax, Ven. It's just a bunch of stupid Shadows. We can take 'em easy," Lea said, trying to lift his friend's spirits a little.

Not even a second after Lea had spoken, those Shadows were joined by numerous Neo Shadows, Novashadows, and Flutterings, all of which were either staring down at the four Keyblade wielders or the fleeing Ruby. Seeing this increase in enemy numbers and types, Roxas instantly turned to his best friend and shouted, "You and your big mouth!"

"I'm sorry! How was I supposed to know there was more of them?! It's not my fault they waited until the last second to jump out at us," Lea protested, even as he shot off several fireballs to destroy the Flutterings that were charging towards him and Roxas.

A Novashadow was just about to pounce on the two best friends, until Sora had leapt in and cut it down with Kingdom Key, and shouted, "Focus, you guys! Let's take the Heartless out now, and scold Lea for jinxing us later!"

"Sorry," the two apologized, and they quickly set to work doing just as Sora suggested, easily eliminating several Shadows with one swing of each of their Keyblades.

Ventus made it a point to blast all the Flutterings out of the air with several wind spells, and even added in Wind Raid to further decrease the number of dark creatures that were flapping around their heads at the moment. He was about to try and use one of his Shotlocks when he remembered that he had to watch what he was doing with certain powers since the other students were present. His momentary pause would have led him to get his head clawed off by a Neo Shadow, had Roxas not tossed Oathkeeper at the offending Heartless in time. The thrown Keyblade made quick work of several other Heartless as well before returning to its owner's hand, but Roxas was able to hold his own with just Oblivion until it had, and Ventus had made it a point to provide Roxas with a good deal of assistance as well to make up for forcing Roxas to step in and cover him like that.

Lea and Sora were practically back-to-back as they threw out whatever elements they could at their opponents, though the former was using more fire spells than he was anything else. Sora was just glad that they could pass off a good deal of their magic abilities as something that involved the use of Dust, because otherwise, he had no idea how he would have been able to explain how their Keyblades could throw around the natural elements like it was nothing. Even so, he knew that he and his friends were still having to hold back a great deal of their powers, like how he was doing his best to not use any of his Heart Binders or Attraction Flows, as there were just some abilities in their possession that they could not explain away via Dust or Semblances. Still, even without being able to freely summon incredible theme park rides or old friends for assistance, Sora was not helpless, as he proved when he took down several Shadows and Neo Shadows with some well-placed lightning spells, and a little bit of Flowmotion magic that he was able to start up using an ice trail he created using Blizzaga.

Lea was just about to burn through some more Novashadows when he noticed that the Nevermore from earlier had shot off several large quills that separated Ruby from the others, and pinned the poor girl down by her cape. Seeing the Deathstalker still coming after her, Lea instantly turned to his current partner-in-battle and shouted, "Sora, we can handle the rest of these guys! You go help Ruby!"

"I'm on it," Sora shouted as he changed Kingdom Key into Shooting Star with just a thought, thankful that he had equipped his usual default Keychains before the exam had started. With a surge of energy provided to him by his Airstep powers, Sora raced across the battlefield towards the Deathstalker, just as it was about to bring down one of its massive claws on Ruby, and managed to parry the blow just in time. Sadly, he realized a little too late that he had not accounted for the scorpion monster's stinger, and by the time he looked up at it, it was already coming down too fast for him to deflect it.

Without any time to think, Sora jumped over to Ruby, shielding her with his body much like he had done for Kairi at one point during the battle at the Keyblade Graveyard, and snapped his eyes shut, awaiting the blow. To his surprise, it never came, but instead, there was the sound of something freezing over at a rapid pace, while a certain heiress's voice commented, "You are so childish."

"Huh," Sora asked as he opened his eyes.

"Weiss," Ruby asked in surprise as she opened her eyes as well to see that the girl she ended up the reluctant partner to was standing over her and Sora with her sword pointed down at the ground where a massive wall of ice seemed to begin from.

"And dimwitted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style," Weiss continued from where she left off, turning to face Ruby as she did, quickly telling Sora who she was addressing between the two of them. He actually just starting to get angry with Weiss again, when the girl surprised him by saying, "And I suppose, I can be a bit…difficult…"

"That's putting it mildly," Sora muttered under his breath.

"Hush you! I'm trying to make a point," Weiss snapped. She then cleared her throat and turned back to Ruby. "As I was saying, while all of that is true, if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off I'll be…nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off. I want you to know I can do this," Ruby finally admitted. Apparently she was still worried about being seen as a charity case or just any variety of special, and from what Sora could figure, it seemed like she had been trying a little too hard to prove that to Weiss especially today. Not that he could blame Ruby, given how receptive Weiss had been towards Ruby's attendance at Beacon thus far, so he was very pleasantly surprised at the next thing that Weiss said to her.

"You're fine," Weiss reassured Ruby, and in a much gentler voice than her normal one, no less. Even more surprising was the fact that Weiss smiled a little when Ruby let out a long sigh of relief, but that smile quickly vanished when she turned to Sora and warned, "I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you."

"Yeah, that's pretty fair, I guess," Sora shrugged with a smile, while holding his hand out to Weiss in a silent offer for at least a temporary truce from their animosity up until now.

Weiss just offered a ghost of a smile in response and accepted the handshake before helping him to pull Ruby's cape free from the Nevermore quill that was pinning it to the ground. Once she was free, Sora and Ruby both turned to see that the ice wall Weiss made had actually frozen the Deathstalker's tail and claw in place, and from what Sora could tell from the shadowy wisps that were floating about, it had the added effect of destroying some Heartless that had gotten close to them. Looking around, Sora could see that his friends had dealt with the remaining Heartless as well, and breathed a sigh of relief in knowing that their old enemies were gone for the moment. It was short-lived though, as he quickly picked up on a familiar, powerful darkness that he had the displeasure of encountering a few too many times for his liking.

"You guys all feel that too, right," Ventus whispered once Sora had rejoined the group, hoping that only his fellow Keyblade wielders heard him.

"Yeah, hard to miss. If that's not a Darkside, then I'm old Xehanort reborn," Lea remarked just as quietly.

"Do you think Ozpin or Yen Sid knew that the Heartless were here," Roxas questioned.

"Doesn't matter. If we don't deal with that thing now, we're going to have a lot more problems later on," Sora informed them, and they all nodded in agreement.

What none of the four Keyblade wielders noticed was how Blake's bow had been twitching a little throughout their conversation, or how she had turned to watch them shortly after it first started doing so. From the way her eyes narrowed as she looked at them, one would think that she had overheard the Keybearers as clear as day, but she did not look like she was going to call them out on anything just yet. Even if she wanted to, there was another problem that they had to deal with right now, and it was still flapping overhead as it cawed as loudly through the sky.

"Guys, that thing's circling back. What're we gonna do," Jaune asked as he pointed up at the Nevermore above them.

"Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us," Weiss reminded everyone.

"I'm sorry, did you just say 'dilly-dallying,'" Lea teased, earning him another scowl from Weiss, and an elbow from Roxas. "Ow! The hell, man?!"

"Enough already," Roxas admonished.

"She's right," Ruby stated, unknowingly finishing Roxas's statement before he could, earning her a surprised look from Lea and a satisfied smile from Weiss. "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

"Run and live. That is an idea I can get behind," Jaune agreed.

"Besides, it may be better if we leave before anymore Heartless show up, especially if there's a chance that some of them have already started heading for the school," Sora added.

"Yes, about that, just what are these 'Heartless,'" Pyrrha questioned.

"To make a long story short, the Heartless are creatures of pure darkness with only one goal: to devour other people's hearts and make more Heartless. Basically, they're like the Grimm, except when they end someone, they turn that person into a Heartless as well," Roxas simplified as best as he could.

"How do you guys know so much about them, though," Yang asked, voicing the question on everyone's minds.

"The Heartless are basically like the sworn enemies of anyone who wields the Keyblade. The four of us have actually been fighting the Heartless for the last two years or so. Give or take a day," Sora explained. "And other wielders have been fighting them for even longer."

"If that's the case, how come none of us have heard about this until now," Blake questioned.

"Because we've been trying to keep it secret. Imagine the kind of panic people would be in if they found out that there are creatures out there that are capable of something even worse than the Grimm," Ventus reasoned. It was not the full truth, but it was as close to it as any of the four friends were willing to give for now.

"So how do we stop them if we find anymore," Ruby asked.

"If we see anymore Heartless, try to leave them to the four of us. We've got a lot more experience fighting them than the rest of you, and personally, I don't want any of you to get hurt trying to fight them," Sora instructed. His voice then turned a little quieter as he added, "I've already lost enough friends to the darkness as it is." Once again, Blake was throwing a curious look in his direction, making anyone who could have noticed think she had heard him, but no one seemed to notice, as they were still busy making a plan on how to proceed going forward, and from the look of things, Sora was already way ahead of everyone. "Besides that, if we move back towards the cliff, we may be able to get to an area where we can hold better ground against any enemies we run into, whether they're Grimm or Heartless."

"I saw some ruins in the area of the cliffs while Weiss and I were up on the Nevermore. Think that would work," Ruby asked.

"It may be our best chance," Sora reasoned.

With that settled, Ruby, Jaune, and Roxas all grabbed a chess piece of their own, Ruby taking the white knight, Jaune a white rook, and Roxas the white king. They had done so at just the right moment, as the Deathstalker's icy prison could be heard cracking apart, indicating that it would be free at any minute. "Time we left," Ren nodded to everyone.

"Right. Let's go," Ruby ordered as she took the lead in everyone's departure.

"We're right behind you, Ruby," Sora nodded as he soon came up alongside her.

Only Yang and Roxas did not rush off right away, and Blake had quickly taken notice of the fact. "What is it," she asked the two blondes.

Yang just continued smiling as she watched her little sister taking the lead like a seasoned pro, even when Ruby paused to look back and make sure everyone was following, striking a rather heroic pose without even realizing it. When she saw Sora move to stand alongside her like a true partner, her grin did grow a little more, but this time, it was not in teasing way. If anything, Yang felt like she was looking at the beginning of something truly great when she saw the two standing side-by-side like that, and it just made her all the more proud of her sister. "Nothing," Yang finally replied to Blake, but from the look on her face, Blake had already figured out what she was thinking at the moment.

Roxas was smiling in a manner very similar to Yang's for many of the same if not similar reasons, but unlike Yang, he gave a little more of an answer to Blake's question. "It's just…It's good to see a bit of the old Sora again. I think coming here is definitely going to be just what he needed."

Blake and Yang were a little confused by what Roxas meant when he said that, but now was not the time to ask him about it. Right now, they had to get back to the cliff with their relics and avoid getting eaten by anymore monsters, so they quickly rushed off after the rest of their group. If they had been paying a little more attention, they probably would have seen just how much closer the Deathstalker was to breaking free of the ice holding it, or how several Shadows had suddenly appeared to speed up the process.

* * *

The twelve teens all made it to the ruins that Ruby had mentioned without any trouble, and true to Ruby's word, the place was definitely a much better location than the clearing the Forest Temple was in if they had to get into another fight. It was only further enforced when they all had to take cover upon seeing the Nevermore flying over their heads. Unfortunately, it seemed like the oversized bird had figured out what they were trying to do, because after circling around the area ahead of them, it eventually perched itself atop the tower that stood between them and the cliff that they were trying to reach, and let out a loud screech as if challenging the teens to try and get past it.

"Well that's just great," Yang grumbled as she glared at the Grimm in front of them.

Their problems quickly increased, when suddenly, a massive, shadowy creature with a heart-shaped hole in its torso and pointed tentacles for hair rose up from the chasm between the Nevermore's tower and the teens' position. "And there's our Darkside," Lea stated.

"Our what," Nora asked, being closest to the pyro.

"Darkside. A really big, really strong type of Heartless. Basically, THAT," Lea explained as he indicated the Darkside in question.

Before anyone could comment on Lea's explanation, the sound of trees collapsing reached all of their ears, and they turned around to see that the Deathstalker was now freed and being flanked by a few Neo Shadows as it ran towards them. Clearly it was still upset about how Weiss had frozen it in place, and everything else that the group had done to it up until now. "Oh man, run," Jaune shouted, and no one even thought of arguing with him.

The only downside to Jaune's plan was that there was only one direction they could run in, and that led them right towards the Nevermore and the Darkside. Knowing this, Ren instantly shouted, "Nora, distract them!"

The ginger haired girl quickly broke off from the rest of the group, ducking around the razor sharp quills that the Nevermore began shooting at her, and then pulled out her grenade launcher so that she could fire it at both the Grimm and the Heartless that were standing in their path. Her blasts did manage to chase off the Nevermore, but they had little effect in driving away the Darkside. Thankfully, Ventus had the perfect solution for that, as he quickly infused his Keyblade with wind magic to once again use Wind Raid. Using his superior skill over wind magic, Ventus was able to direct Wayward Wind into the Darkside several times over and eventually succeeded in getting it out of their path, but not before the Deathstalker had closed in on both him and Nora.

Thankfully, Blake, Ren, and Roxas were able to jump in and force the scorpion monster back with a rapid barrage of slashes, allowing Weiss to pull Nora and Ventus to safety using her glyphs. When Pyrrha saw that her new friends were now all clear of the Deathstalker's range of attack for the moment, she quickly spun around and converted her javelin into a rifle so that she could start laying down some covering fire, allowing them to catch up without worrying about anymore attacks from behind. Sora was quick to join in on Pyrrha's efforts, as he still had his Shooting Star Keychain active, and it was a simple matter for him to transform it into Double Arrowguns so he could begin blasting the Deathstalker as well, along with the Heartless that were running alongside it. With Sora and Pyrrha working together, not only were all the Neo Shadows destroyed, but the Deathstalker was kept well away from their group until they were all on the bridge across the chasm.

Unfortunately, it turned out that the bridge was not where they would want to be at that time, because the Nevermore soon came back around again, and crashed through the bridge, splitting the group almost completely in half, with Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Sora, Jaune, Nora, and Ventus all on one side, while Ren, Pyrrha, Blake, Roxas, and Lea were stuck on the same side as the Deathstalker. To make matters worse, the Darkside had come back up again, flying towards them at speed that none of the Keyblade wielders knew that it could possess. That did not stop Sora from opening fire on his old foe with his Arrowguns, but he was soon forced to cease fire when the Darkside suddenly threw a very fast fist in his direction. Diving to the side, Sora managed to avoid the hit, while Ventus used the massive Heartless's arm as a bridge up to its face, which he hit several times over with Wayward Wind, at least until the Darkside stood up straight again and attempted to swat him off. Thankfully, it ended up missing Ventus since he jumped clear just in time, landing alongside Sora just as he had switched over to the Starlight Keychain so that he could attempt to hit it with his Blades of the Round Shotlock.

Seeing that Ventus and Sora were struggling with the Darkside, while Ruby, Yang, and Weiss were attempting to shoot down the Nevermore, Jaune turned to see how the fight with the Deathstalker was going, and quickly figured out what they would need to do to turn this situation around. "We gotta get over there," Jaune told Nora. "Lea and Roxas will be more help fighting that Darkside thing, and the rest will need our help once they leave."

"Let's do this," Nora grinned, approving of that plan.

"Yeah, but, uh…I can't make that jump," Jaune admitted as he looked down at the chasm that was keeping the two groups apart.

Nora just grinned with a small laugh before she pushed Jaune back a little ways and transformed her grenade launcher into a large hammer. Taking a running, jump start, Nora then slammed the hammer into the bridge section she and Jaune were standing on, sending the blonde boy catapulting over to the other side, while she herself perched herself on the hammer's head before hitting the trigger so that she would be sent rocketing over as well. While Jaune's landing was basically just him dropping down on the bridge between his friends, Nora's came with quite the bang, as she brought her hammer down on the Deathstalker while shouting, "Nora, smash!"

Her hammer hit the Deathstalker right on its head, but did not really seem to do any damage. Luckily she was able to throw herself clear before the monster scorpion could retaliate with its stinger, but doing so ended up causing her to accidentally push Blake over the edge. Roxas and Lea both turned to try and do something to save her, but it turned out that Blake needed no such assistance. Instead, she merely tossed her sword up and used the attached ribbon to swing herself around. Sure, it put her in range of the Nevermore's talons, but a quick use of her semblance to create clones of herself saved her from danger and helped her to maneuver around so that she was on top of the big bad bird. Striking it several times over with her sword and the bladed sheath she carried her weapon in, Blake was more than a little annoyed that she was unable to do any serious damage to the thing, but she was at least glad she was able to get back on solid ground again after running down its back to join up with Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Sora, and Ventus.

Sora and Ventus were about to join the girls in another round of attacks on the Nevermore, until Ruby shouted, "Sora, we'll handle that stupid birdy! You take care of the Heartless!"

"Got it," Sora replied, and after an exchange of nods with Ventus, he and his partner quickly raced off to chase down the Darkside, which was already gearing up to attack Lea and Roxas, who had since received a similar request from Jaune.

"You sure we can handle that thing? It's tougher than it looks," Blake informed the younger girl.

"Then we'll just have to hit it with everything we've got," Yang decided as she reloaded her gauntlets.

The other girls all quickly followed Yang's lead by reconfiguring and loading up their weapons for long-range combat, and once they were all ready, they let loose everything they had on the Nevermore, even as it continued barreling towards them. It did not do any good, and the Nevermore soon crashed through the tower they were standing on, forcing the girls to scramble up the falling rubble so that they could reach a safer perch once again. Of course, while Yang was quick to start firing on the Nevermore once she had found a new position, and Blake continued trying to find a place where she could do the same, Weiss and Ruby came to a stop where they had eventually landed, at which point, Weiss could only say, "None of this is working."

Ruby knew that her partner was right, but after taking a quick glance around, she started getting a few ideas on how they could change that. "I have a plan," Ruby told Weiss. She then used her scythe to blast up into the air, and shouted, "Cover me!"

Earlier that day, Weiss probably would have argued with the younger Huntress-in-training, but after their little heart-to-heart, she had no problem fulfilling that request with the help of the other two girls. While that was going on, Sora and the rest of his Keyblade wielding friends were doing everything they could to bring down the Darkside, but to their surprise, it was not just faster, but also a lot stronger compared to the other Darksides that they had seen before. Sora had even paused in fighting for a second to switch his Starlight Keychain out for the Nano Gear one so he could use the Zone Connector Shotlock. Sure, it was a little more out there than any of the boys were comfortable with, but they were sure that none of the other kids could see him using an extraordinary power that could not be easily explained away. Besides, the Nano Arms Form of that one would be a lot more helpful here than Starlight's more powerful version of his Second Form. At least, that had been their thought until Sora actually transformed into that form and found himself still struggling to either land or deal serious damage to the Darkside.

"Ugh! What is the deal?! Darksides should not be this powerful," Roxas groaned as he jumped clear of another hit from said Heartless's fist. Said fist ended up opening a dark portal in the ground from which more Shadows began spawning out of, once again, which prompted Lea and Ventus to rush in and start cutting them down. They did not need to deal with any small fries while they were fighting a big boss like this, and that was without accounting for the fact that they were already having that problem.

Sora was not really sure what it was that had made this Darkside stronger than the ones he and the others had fought before, and at the moment, he did not really care. All he knew was that they were going to get overwhelmed if they did not do something to end this fight quickly. The only problem was that the biggest weak point on any Darkside was always its face, and they had no easy way of reaching it without the Darkside attacking them. The other Heartless that it kept summoning out for help made things even harder for them, but after glancing around, Sora was quickly able to come up with a plan. Using the finishing move of his Nano Arms Form, Sora quickly leapt up into a portal and unleashed a series of spikes from within a cube of nanobots, destroying several of the recently arrived Shadows, and freeing him up to relay instructions to the rest of his friends.

"Axel, Roxas, keep the Shadows and any other Heartless that thing summons off the rest of us! Ventus, get its attention on you! When I give you the signal, I'll need you guys to give me a clear shot at its head," Sora shouted.

The other four nodded and set to work carrying out their orders, with Lea burning through several Shadows at once, while Roxas used his powers over light to enhance his attacks and speed just enough for him to make dealing with the ones his best friend missed nearly as simple as breathing. Meanwhile, Ventus was hard at work keeping the Darkside's attention on him through the use of various wind spells and raid attacks. It certainly seemed like he was annoying the Darkside enough, but thankfully, Ventus was not alone in his efforts as live bait, because whenever they had a moment to spare, Lea and Roxas also stepped in to attack the Darkside, or to keep it from inflicting any serious harm on their friend. They kept up this easy flow of combos and attacks for a decent amount of time, but they knew that they could only do that for so long, so they each hoped that Sora was able to do whatever he was going for quickly.

They did not have to wait long, because Sora soon shouted that he was ready, and with help from the other two, Ventus was able to make sure that the Darkside's head was completely exposed to any attack they could throw at it. When the other three turned to see what Sora was up to, they saw he had switched over to the Double Arrowguns form of Shooting Star, which he had now transformed into the massive Magic Launcher. Taking careful aim, Sora charged up his canon to full power, and unleashed the powerful blast of magic energy right into the Darkside's face. His blast landed right on target, and the Darkside could only growl in pain as it dropped back down to the chasm below while finally fading into smoke and ash, while a crystal heart was released from its body and into the air, signaling its defeat.

Once Shooting Star had reverted back into its normal form, Sora switched it out for Kingdom Key once again, and smiled to his friends, all of who smirked back in return, but the job was not done just yet. They knew they still had to help the others, but when they looked up to where the fight with the Deathstalker was taking place, they saw that the matter was already well in hand, once a combined effort from Ren and Pyrrha caused the scorpion monster's stinger to be severed, dropping the point right in its head, and giving Nora an easy target to hit so that they could finally kill it, both from her attack, and from when the Deathstalker dropped down into the chasm below. From the sound of things, the others could tell that it was Jaune who was directing the other three through the whole thing, and they had to smile a little at how impressive his skills in quick thinking strategies were.

"Well, they've clearly got that taken care of. Think the girls need any help," Lea asked.

Sora was about to say that they should hurry over and see until he actually turned to look at what they were doing, and just said, "I think they've got it under control. Besides, it looks like we'd be in for a better show if we just watched."

The other boys turned to see what Sora was talking about, and saw that Yang was actually sending several blasts right into the Nevermore's mouth, severely disorienting it with every shot. When Yang finally jumped clear of her position, the Nevermore had already been thrown off so much that it crashed right into the cliff behind her. Weiss then rushed forward so that she could use her rapier to freeze the Nevermore in place by its tail, allowing Yang to move up onto a pillar that stood opposite of the one Blake was currently on and catch the black haired girl's pistol after she had tossed it over while holding onto the other end of its attached ribbon. Once the two had pulled it to the point of the ribbon being completely taut, Ruby launched herself up onto it, and positioned herself so that she had become a projectile that was loaded in a large slingshot. The only reason she did not get thrown forward right away was because of the black glyph Weiss had summoned to hold her partner in place while she lined up the perfect shot.

"Of course you would come up with this idea," Weiss remarked to Ruby.

"Think you can make the shot," Ruby asked, just to make sure.

Weiss merely scoffed and confidently replied, "Can I?"

Apparently Weiss had forgotten that Ruby did not really get sarcasm, so she was left a little worried when the white haired girl had responded like that. "…Can-?"

"Of course I can," Weiss snapped before Ruby could finish her question.

That was all Ruby needed to hear, as she turned to glare confidently at her winged target, cocked her scythe, and began charging up her semblance. The minute that her glyph had turned red, Weiss dismissed it, and Ruby was shot forward at an incredible speed, with a flurry of roses being left in her wake. A few more shots from Crescent Rose allowed Ruby to reach her target that much faster, until finally, she was perched right on the side of the cliff, with her scythe's blade firmly latched around the Nevermore's neck. Working quickly, Weiss summoned a trail of white glyphs up the side of the cliff, and Ruby did not hesitate to use them in combination with her semblance and the recoil of her weapon to run straight up the cliff, dragging the Nevermore with her. When reached the top, the Nevermore's body was brought to a hard halt, and one last blast from her scythe allowed Ruby to completely sever its head off its body in one swipe.

As the Nevermore's dead body dropped down from where it had been pulled, anyone looking up could see a shower of red rose pelts fluttering through the air before they disappeared into thin air, while Ruby stepped up to the ledge with her cape flapping in the wind, once again letting her strike a very impressive and heroic pose. Whether she had intended to do so or not though, none of them could really say for sure. All they knew was that both that moment, and what she just did could be summarized by the comment Lea eventually made.

"Now that…that is badass," Lea grinned in awe.

"You can say that again," Roxas agreed.

The rest of their friends gave similar comments of their own at the sight before them, except for Sora. He agreed that what Ruby just did was impressive and deserved all kinds of recognition and praise, but what really had his attention was the proud smile Ruby was currently wearing on her face as she gazed back down at all of her new friends. It was a smile that he recognized as one he wore more times than he could count after a huge success in his previous adventures, be it from winning a certain game, having fun with his friends on a specific world, or even simply just saving that world from whatever villain was threatening it at the time. Seeing it on Ruby's face actually made him smile a little more like he did back then, because somehow, he just knew that Ruby was going to end up doing some really amazing things. At the same time, it also worried him a little.

He knew just how fragile a smile like that could be, after going through what he had. Sora once thought that nothing could have ever seriously gotten him down until that day in the Keyblade Graveyard, and knowing that Ruby held that kind of spirit in her, Sora found himself setting his resolve on a new mission: to do his utmost to never let anything break Ruby the way Xehanort had him. Be it one world or all of them, he knew that there needed to be more people like her out there, and he was not sure whether or not he could classify himself as was one of those people anymore.

* * *

After initiation had concluded, the students had all gathered in the auditorium again, and were clapping and cheering for each group that was called up by Ozpin as he announced the teams that had been decided upon, their team names, and their leaders. Even without the buzz of excitement, the Keyblade wielders could all tell that this was a very big deal for everyone, right to the point where Sora was sure that if this were taking place in Olympus, the usual fanfare they always heard playing would be trumpeting in the air louder than ever. While it was nice to see all the groups that had been announced, it was not until Ozpin finally called out the names of some of their newest friends that the Keyblade wielders really got excited.

"Jaune Arc; Lie Ren; Pyrrha Nikos; Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as…Team JNPR (Juniper)," Ozpin declared for all to hear. Hearing this prompted Nora to happily wrap Ren in a tight hug, and while Jaune and Pyrrha were happy to see that the two were glad to be on a team together, the former was a left quite stunned by the next thing that Ozpin announced. "Lead by…Jaune Arc!"

"Huh? L-Lead by…" Jaune repeated in surprise, not knowing that Pyrrha was grinning proudly at him after hearing that.

"Congratulations, young man," Ozpin happily praised the boy, confirming that Jaune had not heard wrong.

Jaune's moment of glory was somewhat ruined when Pyrrha's attempt at a friendly slug in the arm caused him to fall over, much to everyone's amusement, but he was still able to get that she had only meant it as a form of congratulations and not as a way of being mean, even without her apologetic smile. When the four left the stage, the next group to come up was a familiar foursome of girls, among which Ozpin knew as the daughters of some of the finest students to have graduated from Beacon, and which he had the pleasure of teaching. "Blake Belladonna; Ruby Rose; Weiss Schnee; Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as…Team RWBY (Ruby)," Ozpin announced loud and clear. "Lead by…Ruby Rose."

While Weiss's jaw had dropped in disbelief after hearing who her team's leader would be, Ruby could only look around in wonder, hardly able to believe what she had just heard. Her confirmation of Ozpin's announcement came quickly enough when Yang suddenly jumped over to hug her tightly while cheering, "I'm so proud of you!"

At that point, Ruby's face gained a little more of a smile, clearly getting more excited than ever before. She knew that it was a bit deal to get accepted into Beacon at her age, but even before that, she had never even dreamed that she would be named as the leader of her team! If the last few days alone had been a dream come true for Ruby, then this was definitely much more than that. The girls were soon leaving the stage so that Ozpin could announce the last four, and this was a group that Ruby was especially excited for. "And finally, Sora Hikari; Lea Firebrand; Ventus Kunsanagi; and Roxas Sheru. The four of you retrieved the white king pieces. From this day forward, you will together as…Team SLVR (Silver)," Ozpin declared as clearly as he had the past few teams, and he made absolutely certain to do the same when he announced the leader of this team. "Lead by…Sora Hikari."

"Like there was ever any doubt," Roxas smirked with pride, truly happy for his former other.

"Way to go, Sora," Ventus praised his partner.

"Aw yeah! That's our boy," Lea cheered loudly with a celebratory fist pump.

Sora just looked between his friends and professor in surprise, until he finally just grinned and said, "I won't let you guys down."

"I know you won't," Ozpin nodded in response.

With that said and all of the teams announced, the students began to disperse so that they could finally receive their dorm room assignments and either mingle amongst one another for a little while longer, or just head off to bed for the night in order to make sure they were rested up for the first day of classes tomorrow. That did not stop Ruby and Sora from meeting up with each other, along with the rest of their teammates. "All right! Congratulations, fellow team leader," Ruby cheered for her friend as she wrapped Sora in a tight hug.

Sora could not help but smile back as he returned the hug, and replied, "I think you deserve more congratulations than me. You got your team named after you."

"Yeah, yeah. Very funny," Ruby giggled in return as she held one fist out to Sora in request for a fist bump.

Thinking back to when he first learned about this from Baymax, Sora happily granted Ruby's request before pulling back and wiggling his fingers while saying, "Bah-la-la-la-la-la-la."

"Huh? What was that," Ruby asked.

"Just a little something I learned from an old friend of mine," Sora replied.

Ruby smiled again when she heard that, and quickly asked for Sora to show her again. This time around, Ruby did her best to copy the movements of Sora's hand while repeating the phrase, much to the amusement of the others, and as he watched the eight kids, Ozpin could only smile happily. His smile quickly fell though, when he thought back to what he had seen the kids fighting on the surveillance recordings of the Initiation. Ozpin was well-aware of what the Heartless were thanks to Yen Sid, and seeing that they were here, and how they had attacked some of his students had left the headmaster very worried. He made a note to mention this to Yen Sid as soon as possible, but aside from that, Ozpin could really only think of one thing to really say at this point. "Looks like things are shaping up to be a…interesting year. May our hearts be our guiding keys."

* * *

**_AN: [deep breath] Aaaaahhhhhhh! Okay. I'm all better now. All good. I'm cool, and I'm now ready to go over the bullet points of today's chapter. For starters, a big lesson I learned after writing all of this was that next time I write out this particular adventure, if I ever do so again in the future, I should probably try to split the events of Beacon's initiation up between two chapters, at minimum, if at all possible, because this one had a lot of stuff happening here. Sure, most it is probably dialogue between characters, but there was a lot more than just that, so...yeah._**

**_Moving on, all the teams are formed, with Sora's team being known as Team SLVR (Silver), and yes, that is the team name that was used in the original version of Remnant of the Key. And in addition to this, we've now been acquainted with all the major heroes of RWBY, both on Teams RWBY and Team JNPR, and hey, look at that, it looks like Lea and Nora have already formed something of a bond._**

**_Roxas: Everyone run for the hills! [attempts to make a run for it, only to be stopped by Sora holding onto the back of his jacket]_**

**_Sora: If we've gotta deal with it, so do you, Mister._**

**_Roxas: That's why I'm saying we should run! That's the only way we can deal with it!_**

**_Lea: Drama queen._**

**_AN: Ahem. Yeah, I'm sure we all feel that Roxas's reaction may be a little justified by that friendship forming. And speaking of things beginning, it looks like Windchill, or as one fan dubbed it, IcyWind (Be sure to mention which name you like better for the Weiss&Ven pairing, because I think both work great) has just gotten its start. Add in the fact that the Heartless have now made their way to Remnant, and things are clearly heating up to a whole new level for our heroes! And all of those Heartless I mentioned, they are all ones that we've seen before. You can look 'em up on the Kingdom Hearts wiki if you don't believe it. Not that we really used that many different types in this chapter._**

**_Speaking of the Heartless, I know some of you are probably going to think that Sora and the others pretty much blew their secret wide open, but let me just point out that the stuff that they told the RWBY crew is stuff that, while true, has nothing to do with other worlds. They mentioned that the Heartless are enemies of Keyblade wielders, they steal people's hearts to make more Heartless, and all the other most important details. Sure, they left out the fact that the Heartless are capable of destroying worlds, but that would definitely have blown their secret, and would likely have driven them all into an unnecessary panic, Huntsmen-in-training or not._**

**_Sora: Hang on a second. Back when I went to save Ruby in the chapter, why'd you have me ask Ventus for a boost?_**

**_AN: To better support the idea that Ven's Semblance was the power to control wind, of course. I know I haven't actually had Ven tell anyone that yet, but considering how many wind-based abilities Ventus has, there was no way he was going to be able to pass that off as being something he could do with wind-based Dust crystals, so, Wind Control Semblance. Or air control, whichever you guys think would sound/work better._**

**_Aside from mentioning that we also got a few more Sora&Ruby moments, I think that the only thing left for me to do now is to answer last chapter's reviews like I said I would last chapter._**

**_Let's begin with "Soulofnone911". Sora will face Tyrian later on in the story (or rather, series, because to be honest, I'm thinking about having this particular story only cover the events of Volumes 1-3 while making a sequel that goes over 4-5, or 4-6, depending on what happens in Volume 7 and beyond), but I wouldn't say that he would be a straight up antagonist like you're suggesting. I can promise that Sora will get off a few shots on that psycho when the fight happens._**

**_"Hamm1999", don't worry, Keyblade Legion will actually be seeing a Stan Lee cameo very soon, most likely in its next chapter. As for Hearts of Avengers, it may be a little bit longer, since I've yet to find just the right place to work it in, but I promise it will happen. As for that Will Smith cameo appearance, I do actually have something similar to that in mind for when it reaches the world of Agrabah in that story. I'm sorry to say that it is very doubtful there will be a Stan Lee cameo in this story though, mainly due to the fact that at this time there is nothing to do with Marvel in it, unless I decide later on to have the cast visit that world, of course._**

**_"Dragon Rider 66" To answer your question, Ventus's last name in this story, Kunsanagi is actually a type of Chinese wind sword, while Roxas's last name, Sheru, is the Japanese word for Shell. As for your question about Keyblades being born from certain bonds that are formed between the Keyblade wielders and the various characters of RWBY like certain Keyblades were in the Keyblades Unleashed Series, I...actually haven't thought about it too much yet. Honestly, I feel like that sort of thing would be more geared to how a RWBY character would get their own Keyblade, if I ever decide to pursue that route. This is not me saying that the RWBY characters will get Keyblades. Right now, that is NOT going to happen, but whether or not certain Keyblades will be created based off of certain RWBY characters is still up in the air at the moment._**

**_Next, "CT7567Rules", I actually have considered starting a DeviantArt profile page for that reason among others once or twice. I've just never really gotten around to it just yet._**

**_Sora: Oh! Roxas, Ven, and I want to take the next answer. Namely the one to the "Guest" of 8/18/2019 who wanted to know how long we think it'll be before Yang and Lea get together. I'd honestly say, give it about two months, but they announce it as official at the dance._**

**_Roxas: I give it half a month before they just start off as simple dates where they're just hanging out, and then another half before they get serious._**

**_Ventus: I'm actually with the guest. I give it a month._**

**_Yang: Hey, do we look like we're easy, or something?_**

**_Lea: I know you guys are probably just joking around with us, but I still feel really insulted to the point where I may need to burn you._**

**_AN: Okay, moving on before this gets out of hand. "Lucien - Herald of Oddity", while your suggestion about Lea is interesting, you still seem to have forgotten that all teams at Beacon are made up of four people. Take away Lea, and the Keyblade boys are short one team member, and even if they do still let him join as an unofficial member, he'd have to worry more about his duties as a teaching assistant/teacher-in-training to worry about. Sorry, but Lea's part of the team here._**

**_"Etain-SheWolfOftThePicts", while Sora did technically get seriously powered up by the end of Kingdom Hearts 3, he still did not regain all the powers he once had in previous Kingdom Hearts games. Otherwise, we'd probably still be able to use the various limits like Strike Raid, Zantetsuken, and all those other ones without the need for Second Form, along with a lot of powers he had in Dream Drop Distance and Chain of Memories. Still, you aren't entirely wrong when saying that Sora did get back all the powers that mattered most, in addition to getting very powerful water spells. As for Ruby's reaction to the Keyblade Graveyard, I'm not sure if she would marvel over all the different types of Keyblades, or cry at the state those Keyblade are in._**

**_Ruby: Honestly, I'm not sure how I would react to seeing that in person, either. I guess it would probably depend on the circumstances._**

**_AN: Next up is to "Monkey D. Conan"..._**

**_Yang: Before anything else, here's that high-five you were willing to accept! [accepts high-five offer gladly]_**

**_AN: [rolls eyes at Yang] Anyway, regarding your question about how the relationship between Sora and Ruby will go for the latter, I would say that Ruby actually falls for Sora a little bit faster than he does her. Mainly because his growing feelings for Ruby will do a bit of a number on him later on. You'll see what I mean when we get there. Lea&Yang, well I'd say that should happen pretty quickly, though it may not be as obvious most of the time. As for Ven&Weiss, I would say that...well, after today's chapter, I think you can make a pretty good guess about how things may unfold as their relationship develops. I'm not saying there won't be moments when she isn't just as cold to Ven as she is everyone else, but those moments will be much fewer in comparison, especially after a certain event in the future takes place._**

**_Finally, a response to the really long review left by the guest reviewer "Someone Random". Ooo-boy. Here we go. To be honest, considering the amount of Grimm they were fighting at the time, under normal circumstances, you would be right, but you have to keep a few things in mind regarding that battle. The four had just walked away from a crash-landing, so their still a bit disoriented, and the Grimm themselves were coming at them in several waves for reasons beyond their comprehension. Add in the fact that this was the first time they were encountering the Grimm, and it only makes sense that they would be facing some difficulties. Although I do agree with you when you mentioned that it is very unrealistic for eight Keyblade wielders to have that much trouble with a particular enemy, depending on the foe in question. It was not my intention to make any of the Keyblade wielders look weak in that fight, just to showcase that they were not entirely prepared for a fight at the time, let alone against a new enemy that they had never encountered before, and don't worry, I totally get letting a rant due to frustration of certain things taking place. I mean, if you'll recall, I went on one earlier in this story about Kairi's role in Kingdom Hearts 3 canon._**

**_As for your concerns about the pairing between Sora and Ruby, let me try to alleviate a few of them. I'm not trying to force it to happen just because the previous author of Remnant of the Key was doing it, because there will be a natural process to its fulfillment. You'll see that Sora will struggle quite a bit with himself as his feelings for Ruby grow, and even more than that, you'll see just what happens to the two of them when he finally finds Kairi again. It adds a little more drama to the story by putting Sora into a specific kind of conflict that he's never experienced before. Again, you'll see what I mean when we get there. To be honest though, I myself have seen a few more fics where Sora was paired up with Weiss, and any stories where he is paired with Ruby either haven't reached the point where it becomes official yet, or just leave a little bit to be desired. No offense to anyone reading this who has done that pairing. Also, why would I want to break up Arkos like that? That'd be just mean in my eyes, especially since I'm gonna find a way to make it so that Jaune and Pyrrha actually do get to share more time together as a couple beyond that one kiss they shared during the Fall of Beacon. The only way you could get me to break up Arkos would be if this was one of those stories where the hero from another series takes Jaune's place in the story or something. Just saying._**

**_Okay, I think that covers everything. Now, all that's left to do is go Onto the Preview!..._**

**_Teams SLVR, RWBY, and JNPR are gearing up for their first day of classes at Beacon, and while some are left a little disillusioned by what classes at a school for monster hunters would be like, others have different concerns. Just what will the members of Team SLVR do to help resolve the trouble in Team RWBY's paradise, what sort of revelations will the Huntresses-in-training receive about their other worldly friends, and how will Sora manage to stay awake during class? Class is in session, next time._**

**_Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy._**


	4. The Badge and The Burden

**_AN: To post a new chapter, or not to post a new chapter? That is NEVER the question here at lyokoMARVELanime studios, especially when said chapter has just been finished, like today's. Which is why we are now saying welcome back for another exciting chapter in Remnant of the Key!_**

**_[audience applause]_**

**_Yeah, pretty cool, right? We're rolling these chapters out pretty quickly in comparison to our production rate for stories as of late, but maybe that's because a lot the ideas for this story are all really fresh in my mind, and are likely to be out there very quickly. Well, whatever the case, I guess it definitely helps to forget about the fact that Weiss was playing that sad song in the beginning note of yesterday's chapter._**

**_Ruby: I thought you were already over that?_**

**_AN: Again, every time I think of that song, I'm reminded of that last scene between Sora and Kairi at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3! It takes a little bit to shake that off._**

**_Ruby: Really? Because I thought you were able to shake it off very easily with all that time you spent in your dressing room yesterday, with that one item._**

**_AN: I don't know what you're talking about._**

**_Ruby: Oh really? Hey, you in the back! Hiding in that control booth! Run that security footage._**

**_AN: What?! Hey, no! Don't you dare! I will fire you if you do!_**

**_Ruby: [draws and aims Crescent Rose] Roll it!_**

**_[security footage starts playing on monitor]_**

**_AN in Security Footage: __[seen standing next to an Inflatable Xehanort Punching Dummy] Well, well, well. You think you're so big and tough. "Oh look at me. I'm Master Xehanort, the greatest villain in all of darkness, and I'm gonna get me the power of the x-blade." Oh no you ain't! POW! [punches the dummy] Ooh! Right the scruffy beard! Ha, ha! Aw, what's the matter, Sidious Wannabe? Did mean old Voldemort take back his little scheme of putting pieces of himself inside of others from you? Say! I got a message for you from Sephiroth. It goes like this: "This is for stealing my shtick, yo!" KAPOW! [punches dummy again] Yeah, that better have hurt! Be glad I just knocked you on your butt, Gramps! Cause Sephiroth wanted me to slice you up into little tiny bits like he would've with his sword! But why do that, when I can just keep doing this! WA-POW! [Hits the dummy again, this time with a spin kick] Yeah, that's right! Who's _your_ Keyblade master! [slaps the dummy with one hand before proceeding to continue with beating it down]_**

**_[end footage]_**

**_AN: Ehehehe...Wow...Awkward...What? Like no one has wanted to beat that guy down after what he did to Kairi in Kingdom Hearts 3 alone? I feel like I'm justified._**

**_Sora: Hey! How come you didn't tell me you had an inflatable punching dummy of that maniac?_**

**_AN: Because you seemed to enjoy beating down the real thing a lot more, and I didn't want you and Kairi to destroy said dummy, since I don't want to risk trying to beat up the real thing. He's crazy enough to not care about whether or not hurting me would prevent me from posting more chapters._**

**_Sora: Okay, that's fair. So, are there any reviews that we can answer today?_**

**_AN: As a matter of fact, I do believe there are. Let's begin with "Hamm1999", I don't think there will be that many Beacon students around when Terra and Aqua come back into the action, and really, Ven's not going to have much time to make a fool of himself since he'll be with the rest of Team SLVR panicking about how Aqua's going to punish them for not telling her they were coming to Beacon in the first place. Also, the Aladdin cast is not here at the moment. They're all over in the new special Kingdom Hearts Wing of the studio rehearsing for when they appear in Hearts of Avengers, but from what I've gathered, they seem pretty cool with how it turned out. They actually agree with me in saying that Will Smith did a good job as Genie. Like second best Genie after Robin Williams._**

**_Ventus: I don't really think that's a fair comparison, considering that anyone could be considered second best to Robin Williams's performance if they were to try and take on his roles._**

**_AN: Fair enough. Moving on to the next review answer, "Dragon Rider 66", first off, I'm still a little undecided on whether or not Team SLVR will have their Aura and Semblances unlocked, mainly because as far as most people on Remnant know, they already have. That is part of the whole story that they're trying to sell in an attempt to hide their identities as Keyblade wielders/people from other worlds after all. Maybe after the secret gets out to either Team RWBY or something, but I can't really say for sure at this time. As for what may happen if Ruby met Hiro from Big Hero 6, I think you might be right about how they may to invent something really big, but at the same time, I think the only ones who would be concerned like how Roxas is in regards to Lea's new friendship with Nora would be Yang, Weiss, Roxas, and maybe some of Hiro's friends._**

**_Also, just to point out again, like I mentioned at the start of this chapter, and the start of the previous chapter, hearing "Don't Think Twice" makes me feel sad, because I can't help but think about that scene at the end of KH3 whenever I hear it. I'm fine, really._**

**_And in regards to my thoughts/feelings on the Spider-Man and Sony deal, honestly, I think that Sony was making a huge mistake, or just being flat out idiots at the time. Pulling Spidey out of the MCU like that would not just mess up a lot of plans for the future of the MCU, and with a good number of which already being set in motion after Far From Home at that, but it would cause a major uproar from fans all over the world, as we've already seen just from hearing about the possibility. Not to mention they made a stupid move in trying to pin the blame for the whole thing on Disney. I mean, they do remember what happened to the director for the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, right, and how that was just over something he posted online years ago? You don't mess with Disney like that. You will end up on the losing side 99% of the time. I'm just glad it seems like they're starting to work out something of a new deal so that we won't have to worry about the MCU losing their Spider-Man aka the new leading face of the MCU, because let's face it, Far From Home has pretty much cemented Peter Parker/Spider-Man into that role._**

**_Moving on from that rant, "Recentreader325", yeah, Qrow's reaction to RoseHeart may be something that a lot of people will enjoy while feeling sorry for Sora at the same time, but I wouldn't expect him to be too much of a protective father-figure for long. It is Sora we're talking about after all. Lea on the other hand...Well...that's a little more up in the air at the moment, at least in Qrow's case. As far as Chirithy goes, I don't really have too many plans for him right now. I mean, he just doesn't really seem like that big of a deal right now, aside from how he helped Sora in the Final World. Beyond that, he hasn't really done much as far as I've seen and known, at least in the main focus story of KH, besides just meeting up with Ven again. I do like your suggestion on what Roxas would use Keyblade transformations, and the name suggestion you made for the other Keyblade wielders. Gonna have to keep ARTX in mind. Though if you don't mind me asking, how would that be pronounced? Would it be like Artist or something? And yes, members of the other teams will get a chance to join in on the Attraction Flows once they find out the secret that Team SLVR is made up of people from other worlds. As for Cinder...I actually hadn't really thought about it that much on how she would try to react to the Kingdom Hearts world entering her realm of notice. I guess she could try to aim to get the powers of a Keyblade, but I highly doubt that she would try for that of a Princess of Heart's power. Keep in mind, that's involving powers of pure light, and Cinder...Yeah, she ain't anywhere near someone that would be involved with the light, in case you haven't noticed._**

**_"HelpSomeone", when Kairi finally meets up with Ruby and Sora, and find out about the two...well, I will say that she won't really hate Ruby or anything like that, but there will be a bit of a rivalry between the two of them at first. I can't really say anything more than that at this time, because anymore than that enters the realm of spoilers in a huge, serious way._**

**_My man "Monkey D. Conan", to answer your question, both Team RWBY and JNPR will find out the truth about other worlds in due time, but it will be the former who finds out first, and as you've probably figured out by now, it will be by accident. I do like the suggestion you made about Yang admitting to already knowing and all that, but I'm afraid that won't be the case here. Sorry, but the whipped jokes won't be coming from that. They will still likely come around at some point though. Hehehe._**

**_Lea: It's not that funny._**

**_AN: Says you. Finally, yes, Sora will be getting back various abilities he's had in the past as time goes on, but I wouldn't expect him or most of the others to be getting Keyblade Armor/Gliders any time soon if at all. Same goes for the Command Styles. I mean, I might give the other wielders the Gliders, but that's a big maybe right now, and beyond that, it wouldn't really be anything else. At least, I'm not planning for it to be at the moment._**

**_Yang: Oh, and "Guest" of 8/22/2019, no worries about that. You're right in thinking that Lea does seem like a piece of cake._**

**_Lea: I'm not really sure how to take that._**

**_AN: As for that same reviewer's other question, it was stated in the first chapter that Riku is in fact dating Namine in this story._**

**_Rolling it on to "SomeOne Random", did I make a DBZA reference? I hadn't even noticed. Hm. Oh well. And as for the matter of Nora becoming too much for Lea to handle, somehow I don't think that'll be too big of a problem. But let's be honest here, sometimes she's too much for Ren to handle, and he's stuck with her since they were little kids, after all. Also, now that you've mentioned it, I never really noticed that Pyrrha and Lea had that many similarities. I'm kinda ashamed of myself for missing that, but I will consider likely making it a point of reference for the future. Now regarding Amber being saved like how Ventus (And technically Roxas and Xion) was...I had not really thought about it too much, but...I suppose that it's not the most out there idea I've heard. Still, you also have to remember that Cinder's powers became as strong as they are now because of the fact that she had killed Amber. I'm not saying that I wouldn't be able to figure out a way to make it work and still save Amber, but...I'll definitely have to think on this a little bit more. Thanks for that suggestion._**

**_"Hotshot6", I was not entirely aware of this fact, mainly because I've seen and heard many people refer to it as a cape, so I'm likely going to call it a cape at times. Fair warning on that, pal._**

**_Oh, "Anonymaton", Team RWBY were really intrigued by your question, and had spent a lot of time thinking over the answer. I think they might have it now. Girls?_**

**_Blake: Me._**

**_Ruby: Me._**

**_Weiss: Ruby._**

**_Yang: Blake._**

**_Ruby: Whoa! Sis, Blake, I think you mean me. I'd look awesome doing an entrance thing to "Duel of the Fates"._**

**_Yang: Nah, Ruby. You're just not dark enough to really fit with it. I mean, maybe if you were Maria Calavera, I'd buy that, but...Yeah, I'd have to agree with my partner on this._**

**_Blake: Yep. I'm the best suited for that song._**

**_Weiss: Oh please. Ruby's got that in the bag._**

**_AN: Yeah, clearly they have not quite settled on a final answer. If I could make a video of the two making such an entrance to that song, or at least how I think they would, I probably would've posted it on YouTube and left it for you guys to decide._**

**_Ruby: Guess we'll have to settle for descriptive stuff like we do with your theme song parodies._**

**_Blake: Gladly. [inserts a tape into the media player]_**

**_AN: Wait, what? No, we don't have time for...And they're doing it anyway. Great._**

**_[cue "Duel of the Fates" as video plays. Blake is seen standing on a branch in the Forever Fall Forest, gazing off into the distance from the shadows before she drops down to the ground, making a superhero landing. She slowly stands up while drawing Gambol Shroud from her back, taking the sword in one hand and the sheath in the other. Commences impressive dance with both blades slicing through the air as she spins, flips, and swings, killing many Grimm that were previously unseen, before she finally ends in a stance similar to the one she took after cutting through several missiles during Team RWBY's battle against Torchwick's stolen mech suit. end "Duel of the Fates"]_**

**_Ruby: Okay, that wasn't bad, but now it's my turn. [plays her own tape]_**

**_[cue "Duel of the Fates" again as new video plays. Ruby seen kneeling before her mother's gravestone with her hood up before she slowly stands and turns to slowly walk away. Grimm begin lurking in the shadows as Ruby walks, seeming like she's not paying them any mind. When she comes to the edge of a small a cliff looking over a village where she can hear people screaming, her eyes narrow under her hood, and she then jumps down before using her semblance to rush in. Arriving in the village, Ruby stands in the middle of the Grimm, letting her hood fall off her head, before slowly drawing Crescent Rose and letting it unfold and tearing through the soulless creatures in a manner that could be seen as similar to how Darth Maul fought, until she has wiped out all the Grimm, at which point she assumes her iconic pose while the casings of the Dust Bullets she used fall around her. end "Duel of the Fates"]_**

**_Weiss: I think that proves mine and Ruby's point. [exchanges a low-five with Ruby]_**

**_AN: Yeah, I'll let you four work that out amongst yourselves. Readers and reviewers alike, I'll let you decide which you thought was better. For now though, enjoy today's chapter._**

**_I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story._**

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Badge and the Burden**

Morning at Beacon Academy seemed like a very calm, soothing, and relaxing experience. The sun was shining, birds were singing, the weather was perfect, and all to the point where even the most strict and serious of people would want to just stay in bed and forget about any concerns or responsibilities that they may or may not have had that day. Sadly, such a thing was not possible for anyone, because we all have to wake up and greet the day at some point, despite how much we may or may not want to. That did not mean that we could not take our time getting up, as Weiss was doing just after opening her eyes and sitting up in bed, stretching her arms out in order to help work out any remaining drowsiness. Whatever amount of sleep remained after that point though was quickly knocked out of her when a certain _someone_ in a red hood suddenly came up and loudly blew a whistle in her ear, startling the heiress right out of her bed.

"Good morning Team RWBY," Ruby cheered excitedly as she hopped off the bed again.

Looking up, Weiss would have to admit that she was at least a little impressed that the younger girl was already dressed in her standard school uniform already, even she did add a personal touch to it by keeping her regular red cloak, but that did not excuse the girl from blowing a whistle at her that loudly, and practically right next to her ear no less. "What in the world is wrong with you," Weiss demanded.

Ruby seemed to ignore the question, either because she was too excited to start the day or just because she somehow did not hear the question. Whatever the case it did not matter, since Ruby carried on like Weiss had not said anything. "Now that you're awake we can officially begin our first order of business."

"Excuse me?"

"Decorating," Yang happily informed while holding a large bundle of stuff in her arms for all to see.

"What," Weiss questioned, now more incredulous than confused.

"We still have to unpack," Blake pointed out to the heiress as she hefted up her own suitcase. Said suitcase turned out to not be very well secured, as it ended up dropping open and spilling its contents out onto the floor. "And clean," the black haired girl added on.

It was hard to argue the fact that Blake did have a point, but Weiss was still a little too peeved with her sudden wake-up call to really admit that to anyone. The fact that Ruby suddenly came out of nowhere to blow her whistle at her again certainly did not help to improve the Schnee heiress's mood in that regard, but what no one expected was for the door to their room to suddenly be kicked open. This time, all the girls were startled, but they quickly became confused when they saw that the person responsible for bursting in such a manner was none other than Sora, who was spinning left and right like he was trying to quickly locate something with his Keyblade in hand.

"What happened? Who's hurt? Where's the bad guy?! Where are the monsters," Sora rapidly questioned as he continued his frantic search, his eyes narrowed in an almost dangerous manner that proved he would show little mercy to whatever may be threatening his friends.

"Easy there, Action-Man. There's nothing to worry about," Yang reassured the leader of Team SLVR in an attempt to calm him down while the rest of her teammates all looked at him with varying expressions of their own. Weiss, of course, was more than a little upset at the boy for just bursting into the girls' room like that, likely ready to admonish him for just breaking in like he had, while Ruby looked very concerned for how panicked and almost dangerous her friend seemed right now. Blake on the other hand seemed almost as concerned as Ruby, but at the same time, it looked like she recognized the look in Sora's eyes from somewhere. Yang was paying their reactions little mind though, as she was more concerned for Sora at the moment. "What's got you so wound up?"

Seeing that there was indeed no threat, Sora slowly stood down, chuckling sheepishly as he dismissed his Keyblade and scratched the back of his head with his other hand. "Uh…Sorry about that," he apologized. "Something just woke me up, and I thought that there was some kind of danger or something. I'm used to almost always being on the go and needing to react to any sudden thing at a moment's notice. You know the old saying; old habits die hard."

"That would explain why you're still in your pajamas," Blake noted with a very faint blush, or at least it was faint compared to how Ruby's face had lit up upon seeing Sora's current attire.

Sora's sleepwear was actually rather modest compared to that of most guys, and consisted of simple red shorts and a white t-shirt that, while rather loose, still seemed to cling to his chest just enough for one to see how well-developed his upper body really was. Not to the point where there was very little left to the imagination, mind you, but certainly enough to where the mind did not need to go too far in painting the rest of the picture. When Sora realized he was still clad in said attire, despite how modest it was, his smile still seemed to fade a little while his own face began turning red, and he slowly began to back out of the room with one last apology to the girls.

"Well…Sorry again for just…you know. I'm gonna…I'm gonna go now," Sora stuttered until he was out the door at last.

"Hang on a minute," Ruby called out, having just remembered something that Sora told her just after the ceremony where the teams and leaders were announced. "I thought you could open or close any lock with your Keyblade. Why'd you kick the door open?"

"Uh…Dramatic effect," Sora shrugged in return, his grin widening a little bit when he responded. When most of the other girls just stared at him in disbelief, he added, "Hey, it would've startled any bad guys just as much as it did all of you. Seen it happen before…And I may have actually forgotten about that in the heat of the moment."

That last excuse was the most believable to the girls, and they finally allowed Sora to depart from their room so that they could carry on with what they were doing. Seeing that it was still pretty early, and that there was still a good amount of time before classes started, Sora was left to wonder about what he could do to pass the time until then. In all honesty, he probably would have slept in quite a bit more if Ruby's whistle had not woke him up, but now that he was awake, he had very serious doubts that he would be able to get back to sleep. That did not mean he wanted to just sit around and wait out the rest of the time before his first official class at Beacon, and while he did have more than one option of what he could do, he still felt the need to think it all over. On one hand, he could just go and find some place to do some light training, but on the other, the rest of his team was still asleep, and if they were able to sleep through Ruby's loud whistle, then odds were they would end up oversleeping as well.

Not wanting to leave a bad impression on either their hosts or whoever was teaching their first class, Sora figured that he might as well at least try and rouse the rest of Team SLVR, and quickly returned to their dorm room so he could do just that. Plus, like Team RWBY, the four Keyblade wielders still needed to unpack their personal belongings as well, as few as they were, and Sora felt like their room could do with a little personalization anyway, so what better way to start the day than that? Besides, the whole reason they came to Beacon in the first place was so that they could become better Keyblade wielders anyway, so he was sure that he would get plenty of chances to practice his skills later on.

Upon entering Team SLVR's room again, Sora was met with the sight of his three, sleeping teammates, and while Ventus and Roxas looked normal enough, seeing the way that Lea was sprawled out with his arms stretched out over the sides of his bed made Sora smile in amusement. The tall redhead looked ridiculous, but as funny as he looked, Sora was going to have to ruin the image and get him up with the other two. It was not until after he had managed to wake up both of the blonde boys that Sora realized just how difficult the task of waking Lea was going to be though, because no matter what Sora did, the former Number VIII of the first Organization XIII just could not be roused from his slumber. Even when Ventus began to provide some assistance, the guy just would not stir even the slightest. Eventually, Sora was ready to just blast Lea awake with one of his spells, but just as he was about to summon out Kingdom Key, Roxas came in from Team SLVR's personal bathroom, with a cup of water in his hand, and a devious smirk on his face.

"Allow me," Roxas requested, and Sora found he was a little too confused by what Roxas was doing to do anything besides stepping aside.

As he watched Roxas approach Lea's bed, Sora started to get an idea as to what the blonde had in mind, and could not help but roll his eyes in amusement. If shouting in the guy's ears and basically making almost enough noise to make someone think an army of crazed Heartless was marching through the room would not wake Lea up, then Sora highly doubted that just pouring some water on the guy would do the trick. Boy was he mistaken, because after "stealthily" making his way right next to Lea's bed, Roxas held the cup right over his friend's face, and dumped it all out on the redhead in one go, resulting in Lea jumping up from the bed in a state of panic as he flailed his arms about like a crazy man.

Lea's panic soon ended though when he heard a familiar bit of laughter, and he was soon glaring right at the cackling blonde responsible for the trick. "Not cool, man," Lea growled. "Using a guy's phobia to wake him up when he's having one of the greatest dreams ever."

"Well, nothing else was getting you out of bed, so drastic measures had to be taken," Roxas shrugged, though his smile proved he was not as sorry as he was trying to sound.

"Oh, you think that makes it better, or that it's funny, huh? Well what if I decided to tell everyone about that time when you and Xion went to the Bistro and…"

Now it was Roxas who was looking panicked, as he jumped Lea to not only wrestle the taller redhead to the ground, but also struggle to keep his best friend from finishing his sentence. Oddly enough, Roxas was somehow winning, despite Lea's size advantage, and that just made it all the more funny for Sora and Ventus. Still, Sora knew that they should not be wasting time messing around, even if they did still have a fair amount of time before their first class of the day, and he soon got to work breaking the two friends' wrestling match up.

Once he had gotten the two former Nobodies apart, Sora finally declared, "Okay, we've still got some time before our first class of the day, so once you're all suited up in the school uniforms, we can get to work on finally unpacking and turning this room into a living space worthy of Team SLVR!"

"Easier said than done, Sora. Even with the little amount of stuff that we brought along with us to this world, it's gonna be hard to really do all that much decorating with what amount of space we have in this room," Ventus pointed out.

"He has a point, and even without that, the beds just take up way too much space as it is," Lea added. "Sure, they're nice beds, but still…"

"How about we worry about that after we get dressed and unpack the essential stuff that we would need for the day-to-day for now," Roxas suggested.

"Sounds good to me. Any objections," Sora asked. When none were given, he then declared, "Alright boys, lets suit up!"

Despite his enthusiastic declaration making it a little more exciting, none of the guys were too thrilled about the uniforms that they had been given. Sure, they were not too different from the other standard boys' uniforms that other students wore, which consisted of a simple white dress shirt, red tie, blue vest, and black suits lined with gold, and they could customize their outfits if they wanted to, but that did not make them any happier over the fact that they had to wear the "damned monkey suits," as Lea had put it while he was putting his on. Then again, the other three could not help but think that maybe Lea's had ended up being a size too small considering how much grumbling and grunting he did as he was doing so.

"Seriously, do we really have to wear these _things_," Lea questioned once again as he fidgeted a little with his tie.

"Yes," Sora, Ventus, and Roxas all answered as one. They were not any happier about it than their redheaded friend, but they were still getting pretty annoyed with his complaints about the thing.

Lea just rolled his eyes in response before he finally loosened his tie to the point where it looked like it would come undone at any second, while unbuttoning the top-most buttons on his white shirt. "Ah…well, at least that helps me breathe a little better," Lea sighed in relief.

"I don't think the staff's going to be too happy with you doing something like that," Ventus cautioned in worry.

"Why not? I mean, it's not stopping Ruby from wearing her cloak," Sora pointed out without even realizing it. Not until the other boys had all turned to look at him with very suspicious eyes. "What's with those looks?"

"How exactly do you know that the eccentric Miss Rose is wearing her hood with her uniform, Sora," Ventus questioned in a sly tone of voice.

"Uh…I may have…stopped by Team RWBY's room earlier this morning," Sora hesitantly admitted. When his friends' looks persisted, Sora could not help but rapidly admit, "And by stopped by I mean that I was woken up by Ruby using a whistle to wake up her teammates and rushed over to see if something was wrong because I thought that they were being attacked or something."

"Seriously? Man I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You just can't help yourself from always trying to be the hero rushing to the rescue. Especially when a girl's involved," Lea teased, drawing a blush out of Sora with that last sentence.

"Well to be fair, the girl in question _is_ Ruby, and she does have a very unique kind of cuteness to her," Roxas pointed out, trying to sound like he was defending Sora when in reality, they all know that he was teasing his former other just as much as Lea was. "Don't get me wrong; I would never cheat on Xion, but that doesn't mean I'm blind to the inherent cute factor that Ruby has going for her, or the fact that her level of cuteness can't be measured by any standard scale without giving it a setting that literally has her name on it."

"Plus there's also the fact that the two have clearly cliqued in the short amount of time that they've known each other, and even for Sora's skills at getting people to open up and change for the better, that's really saying something for someone who's as socially awkward as Ruby has claimed to be," Ventus added on, smirking in the exact same way as the other two.

"You guys all suck," Sora grumbled under his breath as he turned away with his arms crossed, hoping to keep the three jokers from seeing how red his face was turning the more that they talked.

He would have tried to look for a way to change the topic had it not presented itself in a very unexpected manner. The manner in question being the sound of Weiss's shrill voice crying out, "IT'S 8:55 YOU DUNCE!"

"What the…" Lea muttered as he and the others all peeked out their door at the same time as Team JNPR, and just in time to see Weiss racing out of Team RWBY's room not even a second later, with the rest of the heiress's team watching after her for a second or two.

"Uhh, t-t-to, to class," Ruby ordered as she quickly ran after her partner, with Yang and Blake right behind her.

"Class," Jaune repeated just before he and the rest of his team all toppled over each other. That did not keep the blonde down for too long, as he was soon up on his feet and racing off after the girls as he cried out, "We're gonna be late!"

"Sora? Just how long did you say we had before our first class of the day, again," Ventus questioned.

Sora just checked the time on his Scroll, and upon seeing that Weiss was right about the time, he immediately rushed out the door as well, with the rest of the guys following him, along with the remainder of Team JNPR, all the while questioning, "How long did we spend trying to get Axel out of bed?!"

"Don't know! Think about it later! Run now," Ventus advised.

"And if you want, feel free to blame Axel while you're doing so," Roxas added.

"Why is it always MY fault," Lea demanded as he ran, only to receive no answer in reply.

At some point during their sprint from the dorms to the main building where classes were to be held, Sora managed to catch up with Ruby, to her slight surprise. Even without her Semblance, Ruby had always been really fast on her feet, so to see Sora keeping pace with her so easily came as a bit of a surprise to the hooded Huntress-in-training. An impressive one, but a surprise all the same. That was not the only thing about Sora that Ruby noticed right at that moment though. "I see you decided to take a more personal touch with your uniform as well," Ruby observed, getting a confused look from Sora that said he was not sure what she was talking about. "You're still wearing that necklace of yours."

Glancing down at his neck, Sora could not help but smile a bit as he fingered the crown pendant that hung from the chain around his neck, and replied, "Yeah, I hadn't even realized it, but then again, I've worn this thing for so long it's practically become a part of me. I haven't gone anywhere without it since the day I first got it, and it would feel way too weird to start doing so now."

Ruby nodded in understanding, knowing exactly what Sora meant by that since it was the same way for her when it came to her red cloak in a way. Of course, there was a bit more reason to why her cloak was so special to her besides that, and she had a feeling that the same could be said for why Sora cared about that necklace of his so much. She felt like it was a good hunch, considering how he eyed the pendant while he was fingering it with a look she knew she held a few times after she first got her cloak, and whenever she visited her mother's gravestone, but now was not the best time to be delving into such personal matters. Right now, they had to scramble in order to make sure they were not late for their first class of the day.

With that in mind, Ruby's excitement began to shine through once again when she asked, "So, you ready for our first day of classes at Beacon?"

"Are you kidding," Sora questioned with a grin. "We're going to a school to learn how to fight monsters, save the world, and basically be better heroes! What's not to be excited about?! This is gonna be awesome!"

"Yeah," Ruby cheered in agreement while she and Sora high-fived one another, much to the amusement of most of their friends and teammates as they all continued hurrying to class.

* * *

_'This is so NOT awesome,"_ Sora mentally corrected himself barely even an hour later as he struggled to stay awake. Sure, he was not expecting for every class to involve doing various work outs, sparring practices, or any other thing like that, but he had at least expected that the classes that involved written work would at least be a little more interesting than the one he and the others were sitting in right now. Sure a Grimm Studies class would be a big help for them in understanding how to fight the soulless abominations, especially in the case of him and his fellow Keyblade wielders, but not only was it still boring, but the class was made even less interesting from the way that their teacher was going on about his past adventures.

Sora was sure that Peter Port was indeed a very skilled Huntsman in his youth, and that he still retained enough of those skills now to qualify as a teacher at Beacon Academy, but somehow, he highly doubted that all of the things he told them about in the stories about his "glory days" were true. Normally, Sora would not mind listening to a good story, but in this case, it really came off as more like ridiculous ramblings than it did an actual story. Besides, there was a time and place to brag about your past accomplishments, and while some would say that this could be the place, it did not really seem like the time to Sora. All of his friends seemed to agree, given how most of them were barely able to focus on what Professor Port was saying, save for one or two of them, and even then, Sora felt that might be pushing it a little.

_'We ran all the way from the dorms in a mad rush to make sure we weren't late, for this,'_ Sora thought incredulously as he struggled to keep himself upright. He did not have any delusions of being able to keep himself from nodding off, so he may as well at least try to make it look like he was just diligently taking notes, even if he was asleep. From the look of things, it seemed that Lea had the same idea, because he was hunched over with his head in one hand and a pencil in the other, but that did not stop Sora from noticing how steady his breathing was, proving that the pyro was more than likely asleep. Glancing further past Lea, Sora saw that Roxas and Ventus were not really doing much better than him, but at the same time, they were not as far gone as the redhead yet.

At one point, Sora felt that he was finally going to go down, when he picked up on the sound of someone quietly snickering to his immediate right. Turning to the girl in question, Sora glanced between Ruby and the paper she was scratching her pencil on, wondering what she could find so funny about taking notes on what Port was trying rambling about right now, until Ruby took notice of how his eyes were trained on her. With a few more strokes of her pencil, Ruby set the writing utensil down, and then held up her paper for Sora to see with a sneaky little grin on her face. On the paper in Ruby's hand, was a very ridiculous picture of their current teacher, with the words "Professor Poop" written at the bottom. The drawing alone made it hard for Sora to not start laughing at her silliness, but when Ruby blew a quick raspberry to imitate a fart sound, he just could not hold it in any longer. He was just glad he could keep it down to amused chuckles, and that was what drove the rest of Team RWBY to turn and see Ruby's drawing as well. Only Yang and Blake got a laugh out of it though, as Weiss merely glared at the scythe wielder in disapproval.

"Ahem," Professor Port suddenly coughed, startling the laughs out of everyone, thinking that they had been caught. They all soon breathed a sigh of relief when he just continued on like nothing had happened. "In the end the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity…"

Sora rolled his eyes at that, and after making sure that Port could not see him, he quickly scribbled something down on his paper before sliding it over for Ruby to see. _'Sheer tenacity? More like the massive size of his ego,'_ the note read.

Now it was Ruby had to keep from laughing out loud, both because the message was funny, and because she completely agreed with Sora's statement. Taking up her pencil again, Ruby immediately scrawled out a note of her own in reply, and slid it over for Sora to read. _'Not that I disagree, but you probably shouldn't be passing notes like that when we're sitting in the front row.'_

Sora instantly shot her a look after reading the note that clearly showed he was questioning if she had actually just wrote that to him, and then scribbled out his next reply. _'Said the girl who's secretly drawing ridiculous pictures of the teacher while she's also sitting in the front row.'_

While she did shrug in reply, Ruby's smile remained completely shameless and as amused as ever over her previous action. He did have a point, but then again, having a lousy choice of seats was their own fault, since they were the last ones to arrive for class. _'Can you blame me,'_ she then wrote out. _'Until now, I thought it was impossible to make fighting monsters sound boring.'_

_'Right?! Not to mention that I'm pretty sure he's making a lot of this up,'_ Sora quickly wrote out.

The two friends continued on with their note passing from there, not really talking about much of anything after a while, and while Port did not seem to realize that he was being ignored by them, Weiss most certainly did, and she was far from happy about it, as her sour expression could prove. It steadily grew from just being sour to a full-on glare of indignation and frustration the more she watched the two team leaders, right up to and through the end of Professor Port's story, as he went into what he believed to be the lesson behind his rather ridiculous tale, and there was soon little doubt that she would soon explode at the first chance she was offered.

"The moral of this story? A true huntsman must be honorable. A true huntsman must be dependable. A true huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise," Professor Port finally concluded before he posed a question to the students. "So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Finally, Weiss's chance to blow off steam seemed to have come, as she instantly shot her hand up in the air, and declared, "I do sir!"

"Well then, let's find out," Port challenged as he turned towards a cage he had set off to the side, prompting whatever beast he was keeping contained in it to start snarling and growling as it fought to break out. "Step forward, and face your opponent."

As Weiss stood up to retrieve her weapon and combat attire, Roxas looked between their teacher and the cage for a few moments before he finally asked, "Was that thing in here the whole time? And how did we not notice it until just now?"

"Maybe the old man's story had bored it to sleep like it did Lea," Ventus offered with a grin, earning a quiet chuckle from his fellow blonde.

Their laughter was actually what startled Lea awake again, and he quickly glanced around to make sure that Port had not caught him sleeping. When he saw that the cost was clear, he looked over to his pals and asked, "What'd I miss?"

"Just the rest of Port's story, him going on about the qualities of a true huntsman, and the Ice Princess suddenly volunteering herself for a surprise fight with some creature that Port had locked in that cage over there. I'm pretty sure that this is likely her getting ready to throw a hissy fit or something," Roxas filled in for his friend.

"Oh, well, now things are getting interesting. A hundred munny says that she loses her cool before the fight is even halfway over," Lea grinned in response, while Ventus rolled his eyes at both of them.

"I say it'll be just right before the end that she completely snaps, and make it two hundred," Roxas accepted in response with a grin while he accepted his friend's low-five to seal the deal.

"Come on, you two. She's not that bad," Ventus scolded in Weiss's defense.

"Says you. You're the only one here who hasn't been subjected to her snotty attitude to the same extent as the rest of us," Lea argued.

"I think Sora mentioned that she was about as cold as Arendelle or something when he first met her," Roxas added on.

While Ventus did not doubt that Weiss had a bit of an attitude problem, he still felt like the others were probably judging her a little too harshly. Not that he seemed likely to convince them of that right now, or that he even had the chance to try, because it was at that moment that Weiss finally came back in, all geared up for a fight with her rapier fully loaded and ready for battle. At least, that was what it seemed like to everyone else, but Ventus could see that there was a certain intensity to Weiss's form that she did not normally have. More than that, the cold, steel that was in her eyes was new to him as well; it almost seemed like she was trying to prove something after being told that she was wrong. Before he could think on it much more though, he ended up getting distracted by the cheers of her teammates, and a few other classmates as well, though it was mostly in the case of those that were on Ven's team.

"Goooo Weiss," Yang cheered with a fist pump.

"Fight well," Blake added on as she waved a flag that had her team's name printed on it.

"Yeah, represent Team RWBY," Ruby finished with an added bit of excitement.

That last one was the only one that Weiss actually responded to, and it was not in an accepting manner. "Ruby, I'm trying to focus," Weiss scolded.

"Oh, sorry," Ruby meekly apologized.

"Don't worry, Weiss. You've got this," Sora encouraged, despite how much he wanted to glare at the heiress for her comment to Ruby. He figured that she just needed a few more votes of confidence right now in order to improve her mood. After all, she had been startled awake by Ruby's whistle much like he had been.

"But do us a favor and don't lead it over here," Roxas playfully requested.

"Or better yet, just hit it with one of your icy glares. Maybe it'll freeze to death in an instant," Lea taunted, earning him one such glare from the girl. "Yeah, that'd be one I'm talking about, but direct it at whatever the prof's got in the cage. It'll be more effective on that than it is on me."

"Just do your best, Weiss," Ventus finally called out, cutting Lea off before he could say anything more to upset the girl.

"Alright. Let the match…BEGIN," Port declared as he sliced off the lock the cage with the axe blades on his personally customized blunderbuss, and the minute that the door dropped, a boar-like Grimm that everyone recognized as a Boarbatusk came rushing out with a growl. Acting more on instinct than her actual training, Weiss quickly leapt to the side, swiping her blade at the Boarbatusk as it passed her. Rolling to her feet again, Weiss glared at the monster boar, almost picturing it as everyone that had recently made her mad in some way when she did before she brushed that aside in an attempt to regain her focus. Not that Port's commentary was really doing too much to help with that. "Haha, wasn't expecting that were you?"

"Hang in there, Weiss," Ruby encouraged, already having forgotten her partner's earlier request for quiet.

Incidentally, Weiss did somehow manage to block out a good deal of her annoyance with Ruby when she next lunged at the pig, but in her rush, she had gone along a different path than intended with her strike, and ended up receiving a nasty hit from the Boarbatusk's tusks in her side, while her rapier ended up caught in the long, sharp appendages at the same time. "Bold, new approach," Port complimented as Weiss struggled to get her sword free. "I like it!"

"Come on Weiss, show it who's boss," Ruby cried out. Unfortunately, that ended up distracting Weiss just enough for the Grimm to rip her weapon out of her hand and across the room from them both. Having not been expecting to be disarmed so suddenly, Weiss was left unable to recover before the Grimm struck again, and ended up knocked to the ground as a result.

"Oho, now what will you do without your weapon," Port questioned, almost sounding like he was enjoying Weiss's struggle.

"Does he realize how little his color commentary is actually helping her right now," Ventus questioned.

"Who cares? It's making the show all the better," Lea grinned happily.

"Okay, dude, we get it. You don't like Weiss, but there's a limit to what you can find enjoyable when it comes to how she may or may not struggle and/or suffer," Roxas told off the redhead, now no longer finding Lea's constant need to put down the heiress as amusing.

It was during that time that Weiss had managed pick herself up again, and then managed to roll away from the Boarbatusk's next charge, leaving it to collide with the wall behind her while she quickly retrieved her rapier. The minute she saw her partner had retrieved her blade Ruby called out, "Weiss, go for its belly! There's no armor underneath…"

"Stop telling me what to do," Weiss finally, coldly snapped, making Ruby flinch as her smile fell into a sad frown. Now Sora did not have a problem with glaring the white haired girl. Ruby was just trying to help out her friend; there was no need for Weiss to talk to her like that.

Before Sora could say anything though, Ventus shouted, "Weiss, watch out!"

Turning back to the Grimm, everyone watched in awe as the Boarbatusk let out an angry, squeal-like roar before rolling itself up into a fast-moving, spiked ball of death that came hurtling towards Weiss. This time though, Weiss was more than ready, or at least ready to a sufficient extent, and with a wave of her rapier, she quickly summoned two of her snowflake glyphs; one in front of her and one behind. The Boarbatusk slammed right into the first glyph, and dropped down onto its back, leaving it open to attack as it struggled to get upright again. Weiss was not about to let the troublesome beast get that far, but instead, she back flipped onto the second glyph, kicked off of it, and rocketed forward with her rapier aimed right at its exposed, unprotected stomach. Her attack struck true, and after letting out a little bit of whimpering and weak squeals, the pig finally began to break down into dust like all other Grimm do when they are killed.

"Bravo! Braa-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress-in-training," Port happily praised while Weiss caught her breath. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and stay vigilant. Class dismissed."

While everyone else calmly gathered up their belongings and started filing out of the room, Weiss just threw another cold, silent glare at Ruby before she spun around on her heel and marched out. Her teammates all watched her go with worried gazes, though Ruby's eyes had a bit of hurt mixed into them as well, while others were all wondering the same question that Jaune eventually muttered after watching her go.

"Sheesh, what's with her," Jaune asked.

"A very excellent question, my friend," Roxas replied while throwing a worried glance in Sora's direction. After hearing about his team leader's past encounters with Weiss, Roxas could not help but think that Sora would leap out of his seat to chase after Weiss so he could give her another piece of his mind, if not just outright attack the girl for how she had been acting towards Ruby. It certainly seemed that way from the way that Sora was glaring at her back, but the boy remained right where he was, only moving to give Ruby a few words of comfort in an attempt to raise the hooded girl's downtrodden spirits a little. He quietly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that, before he turned to Lea and held his hand out to the pyro. "Alright, she snapped just before the fight ended, now pay up."

Lea just let out an annoyed growl as he fished the agreed upon two hundred munny from his pocket and handed it over the blonde, grumbling, "Why do I keep making bets with you?"

"Don't know. I honestly thought you would've learned by now, or at least after half of the poker nights that Luxord used to host back in the old days. Namely the ones where I completely cleaned you out," Roxas teased as he pocketed his prize.

All further conversation between those two went unheard by Ventus, as he was still staring at where Weiss had disappeared, thinking to himself about what could be done to help the girl with whatever problem she was having right now before it ended up having some very serious consequences on Team RWBY.

* * *

Weiss's mood did not change for the rest of the day, and considering that she had quite a few classes with her partner that day, it was hard for Ruby to not notice this. Sure, Sora had assured her earlier that the Schnee heiress would cool off if she just gave it a little time, but Ruby was not so sure about that. She considered Weiss a friend, despite their rocky start, and she really wanted Weiss to think of her the same way, so once classes were over for the day, Ruby set out to take what the other Keyblade wielders would consider a very Sora-esque action: chasing down a friend to try and help them out, even if they had said not too. Thankfully, she did not have to look for too long, as she soon found Weiss in the hallway, still fuming like she had been earlier.

"Weiss," Ruby called out to get the girl's attention, but when Weiss turned to face her with the same glare that she had received at the end of Port's class, Ruby could not help but flinch back a little. Still, Ruby was not going to let that stop her, and this only helped her get right to the heart of the matter. "What's wrong with you? Why are you being…?"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you," Weiss snapped before Ruby could finish. "You're supposed to be a leader and all you've been so far is a nuisance."

Ruby could not stop herself from scoffing at that before she asked, "What did I do?"

"That's just it! You've done nothing to earn your position! Back in the forest you acted like a child and you've only continued to do so," Weiss accused, finally letting out everything that had been bothering her since the ceremony, and unfortunately for Ruby, she was not holding back any of her frustration. Sure it hurt, but Ruby was still able to keep it together just enough to keep talking.

"Weiss, where is this coming from? What happened to all the talk about working together? I thought you believed in acting as a team," Ruby reminded her while trying her best to keep her voice strong despite how quiet she became.

"Not a team led by you. I've studied, and trained, and quite frankly, I deserve better," Weiss stated, all the while with her voice as cold as ever. The next thing she said though was even colder than that though, if to no one else, than certainly to Ruby and the hooded huntress-in-training had a feeling that Weiss meant it to be that way at the moment. "Ozpin made a mistake."

Ruby wanted to try and reach out, to say or do something to help raise Weiss's spirits a little, but that last thing that Weiss said definitely had more of an impact than anything else. More than just an impact; it really hurt to the point where Ruby did not just feel terrible, she felt like she was going to start crying at any moment. The fact that she could feel the tears building up in her eyes already certainly reinforced the idea, and Ruby likely would have run right back to her room, or really just anywhere that she could be alone in order to let it all out had she not found the school headmaster that was just mentioned standing behind her, his cane and a mug of coffee in hand as usual.

"Hmm. Now that didn't seem to go very well," Ozpin commented. His voice may have sounded a little neutral, but there was a touch of sympathy to it as he looked to poor Ruby.

"Is she right? Did you make a mistake," Ruby asked, her doubts now much stronger than they had been when she had been first named as the leader after hearing Weiss's words.

"That remains to be seen," Ozpin replied with a smile. Clearly he had this conversation with others before, and he had no problems having it again if it meant cheering Ruby up a little.

"What do you mean," Ruby asked.

"I mean it's only been one day," Ozpin pointed out with a light chuckle. "Ruby, I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet, but at this moment I would not consider your appointment to leader to be one of them. Do you?"

Ruby did not say anything. She had been a little surprised by the fact when Ozpin declared her as leader, but she was at least a little confident to the point that made her believe she could do it. That confidence only grew a little after receiving congratulations from her sister, Sora, and a lot of her other friends, but still, after her talk with Weiss, Ruby was not so sure. "I…I really don't know," Ruby admitted.

"Well, I suppose I would be a little worried if you did know for sure. Doubt is a natural thing for anyone to feel when placed into such a position, but I find that the best leaders are the ones who not only possess the talent to lead, but also listen to others so that they can better improve in the way they lead," Ozpin admitted, surprising the girl a bit. "Being a team leader isn't just a title you carry into battle, but a badge you wear constantly. If you are not always performing at your absolute best, then what reason do you give others to follow you?" When Ruby started to smile again, Ozpin turned to take his leave, but not without one last bit of advice for the young Rose. "You've been burdened with a daunting responsibility, Ruby. I advise you take some time to think about how you will uphold it. Though do remember, there are others you can talk to about this, some of which who have even been through it in one manner or another in the past. Isn't that right, Mr. Hikari?"

That last comment surprised Ruby a little, until Sora stepped out from behind the corner with a sheepish smile and wave to them both. "How long did you know I was there," Sora asked the professor.

"Since a few moments ago," Ozpin admitted. "If I had known you were going to attempt to say something though, I would have waited a little longer. I'm sorry to say that I appear to have beaten you to the punch this time."

"It's no big deal," Sora shrugged with an easy going smile.

"Well, I'll leave you both to think on what I've said, and to discuss it as well," Ozpin bade in farewell to the two, feeling that his work here was done.

After watching the headmaster go, Ruby looked to Sora, curious about what Ozpin had implied. From the sound of things, this had not been the first time that Sora had been in a position of leadership to some extent, and the way Ozpin said it made her think that it was not even a brief time, either. Sure, she did not know too much about Sora's past, or really the pasts of anyone on Team SLVR, but was it really possible that Sora had been through something that had tested his ability to lead others? It would certainly help to make sense of why Ozpin had chosen Sora to lead his team, but for the life of her, Ruby could not think of what Sora could have gone through that would qualify as such.

More than that, as she looked at Sora, Ruby could once again see that far-off look in his eyes that she saw in the Emerald Forest; the one that reflected a deep sense of hurt. Now that they were not in the midst of fighting for their lives, Ruby had a chance to really study that little bit of emotion in his eyes, and after thinking it over for a moment, she began to think that maybe, just maybe it was not that different from a look her own eyes held many years ago after she lost her mother. Sure, it still crept up on her every now and then, but from what Ruby could glisten, this hurt was much more recent for Sora. Thinking that he could be suffering from such a pain made Ruby's heart hurt a little for him, and for some reason, she could not help but want to try and alleviate that pain from his heart somehow.

She was actually just about to say something to him, though whether it was on what she saw in his eyes, or what Ozpin said, Ruby was not sure, because Sora had quickly tried to wipe away that distant gaze and the sadness it held with his usual smile when he spoke to her first. "So, are you feeling better now," Sora asked.

Ruby was not entirely fooled. She knew that Sora was trying to cover up something, but she would not press him on the matter just yet. There were other things that they could discuss right now that were of more immediate concern. "Yeah, I think so," Ruby admitted, letting her own smile creep up onto her face again. "So, are you guys all settled into your dorm yet?"

"Just about, but I wish we had a little more space to make the room feel a bit more like home for us," Sora admitted.

"Have you tried replacing your beds with bunk beds," Ruby asked. "That's what we did in our room, and it worked perfectly."

As tempted as he was to ask how they managed to accomplish that, the idea of making their beds into bunk beds was just way too perfect an idea in Sora's eyes, and he was sure the rest of the guys would be on board with it. "Ruby, that's brilliant! Thanks so much," Sora cheered as he wrapped his arms around the girl in a sudden hug. "I'm gonna head back and get my team working on that right away!"

Ruby could only nod in response while her face started matching her cloak again. Really, it was getting ridiculous how often she found herself blushing while she was around Sora, but she had to admit, it felt really nice to get a hug from him. She probably would have even joined him in his excited rush back to the dorm building had she not glanced outside beforehand to see Weiss standing out on one of the balconies and thought of something else they should do.

"Hey Sora, do you mind coming with me to make a quick stop at the library before we head back," Ruby asked.

* * *

Weiss was still stomping down the hall, not really having a specific destination in mind, or even a direction really, so it was not until she had spotted someone else in the area that she took notice of her location. From what she gathered, it looked as though she were on one of the outside balconies, and one of the perfect ones to watch the sunset from at that, at least as far as she knew from her limited time at Beacon thus far, and over on one of the benches, gazing at the colorful, twilight sky and setting sun, was a certain blonde that she had only briefly encountered during their time in the Emerald Forest. Weiss wanted to change that though, as this person had certainly caught her interest in a way that none of the other students had, including Pyrrha, so she quickly walked to him in order to strike up a conversation. Not that she really knew what she wanted to say, or even if he would notice her approach, but as she drew closer, she found that he had been too wrapped in the view to realize she was there, and that somehow helped find something to talk about.

"Ventus," Weiss called out, startling the young man a bit when she did.

"Oh, Weiss. Sorry, I didn't hear you coming," Ventus apologized.

"It's quite alright. I mean, this view is rather lovely," Weiss assured him, indicating the sunset he had just been watching. She then looked to him and asked, "What are you doing out here by yourself anyway?"

"I was trying to do some studying with Roxas, but I couldn't really get my mind to focus on our work, so I came out here to clear my head, and maybe find someplace that I could stargaze from later on," Ventus shrugged.

"You stargaze," Weiss asked in surprise.

"Yeah. It's a favorite past time of both mine and my best friends. Even before I met them though, I'd love coming out at night to just gaze up at the stars, wondering what kind of mysteries and stories they held while lighting up the night sky. Some of my best memories happened while stargazing," Ventus sighed fondly. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his green Wayfinder and finished, "Like the night when I first got this."

Looking at the star-shaped charm, Weiss could certainly understand at least part of the reason why he would think back on such a moment with fondness. It was a very lovely charm, from the silver edges, to the green, stain-glass points, and right down to the smaller copy of Ven's badge sitting right in the middle of the five-pointed star. Still, from the way Ventus had said that, she could not help but feel that there was a much greater significance to the object than just how nice it looked, and felt prompted to ask about it. "What is that?"

"It's called a Wayfinder; a special kind of good luck charm. My best friend, Aqua made it along with two others just like it. She kept one of the other two for herself, gave me this one, and gave the other one to my other best friend, Terra," Ventus explained with a fond smile. "When she gave them to us, she said that the charms had a special kind of magic to them. I didn't really understand it at the time, but now I know that the magic she was talking about, was that these charms represented the unbreakable connection that three of shared. To be honest, there are days when I feel a little stupid for not realizing it sooner, especially given how Aqua had told us about a legend she heard that inspired her to make the charms in the first place."

"What legend is that," Weiss asked, now very curious.

Ventus paused for a minute to figure out the best way to tell the tale, not because he did not remember it, but rather, because the only times he heard the tale, it was always among people that knew about the existence of other worlds. Not that it took him too long to figure out, as he proved when he spoke up again after a few seconds of silence. "Well, on a certain special island very far away from here, there's this tree that grows star-shaped fruit, and the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. It's said that so long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like this unique fruit, nothing could ever drive you apart, and you would always find your way back to each other." Ventus could not help but smile a little wider after he had finished telling Weiss about this tale, but mainly because of another thing he remembered Aqua saying when she handed out the Wayfinders amongst their little trio of friends, and he could not help but add it in as an afterthought. "It's funny; Aqua said that technically, you're supposed to make them with seashells, but she did the best with what she had, and honestly, I don't really think that it mattered all that much in the end, because it proved true either way for the three of us. Even if we did end up needing a little extra help."

Weiss could not help but smile a little after hearing all of that, having sensed just how special a place this all had in Ventus's heart just from the way he talked about it all, and after he finished, she just had to comment, "Well, I think she did a very excellent job in making them as well, if yours is anything to go by. It's very beautiful."

"Glad you think so, too. I'll be sure to let Aqua know you approve the next time I see her, assuming I live long enough, that is," Ventus replied with a small shiver near the end.

That confused Weiss a little, and she felt prompted to ask, "Why do you say that?"

"Let's just say that I may have forgotten to mention to Aqua that I was coming to Beacon before I left, along with the fact that the rest of my friends were going to be doing the same. It's not that I really needed her permission to come here though, but she does like to know about stuff like that in advance, mainly because she views me like the little brother she never had, and the same goes for Sora, too. I'm not sure that applies to Roxas and Lea, but she does see them as close friends, and she really cares about anyone that she views in that manner, and that makes her a little…protective at times, almost to the point of being motherly, and occasionally, very scary when she's the last to learn about stuff that's happened to those friends," Ventus revealed.

Weiss could certainly understand what that was like to an extent after having her own sister practically take over in raising and training her when things in her family started getting a little more difficult, but thinking about that soon brought her mind back to the things that had been troubling her all day. Realizing that, Weiss decided to take a seat next to Ventus in an attempt to better calm herself down, and tried to lose herself in the lovely view that was in front of them. Needless to say, it did not entirely work, but it did at least keep her from getting angry again, like she had when Ruby confronted her earlier. What it did not do was keep the sad look off of her face, or Ventus from noticing said look.

"Do you mind if I ask what's wrong," Ventus inquired.

"What makes you think that there's something wrong," Weiss questioned.

Ventus just had to smile in good humor as he replied, "You haven't exactly made it too big of a secret that something has been bothering you all day. Even now, it's written all over your face that you're upset about whatever this thing is." When Weiss did not say anything in reply to that, Ventus reached over to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder and said, "Hey, it's just the two of us out here, you know. Whatever it is, you can tell me, and I won't tell anyone else if that's what you're worried about."

Weiss did not necessarily have a problem with everyone knowing about the things that bothered her, per say, but hearing that the boy would not go telling others if she did not want him to did make her feel a little more reassured, and ultimately served to help her finally let out what had been weighing on her for quite some time now. "I think I should've been the leader of Team RWBY," Weiss confessed.

"Hmm…I see," Ventus hummed in thought upon hearing that. When he did not say anymore than that, Weiss could not help but look to him in confusion. Clearly she had been expecting a little more than that from him, and he continued to surprise her when he next spoke up. "Any particular reason why?"

"Excuse me," Weiss asked, showing her surprise at the blonde just as much as her confusion when she spoke.

"Just humor me for the moment," Ventus prompted.

Weiss was not sure where he was going with this, but she figured there was no harm in granting his request to humor him for the moment. "Because I've studied and trained all of my life for this. I went through all the proper channels to get into Beacon, and as you saw, I've done everything humanly possible and more to show that I can become the best huntress of my generation, and yet, despite all of that, some little kid who somehow snuck into Beacon two years ahead of schedule is made the leader of my team? It just doesn't seem right. How can Ruby be expected to lead us when she hasn't put in nearly the same amount of work as the rest of us, and has no clue what any of us have done to get here?

"You may be right about that," Ventus agreed. That brought a smile to Weiss's face, showing that she was glad to hear someone was on her side, until he finished his statement. "But at the same time, you're absolutely wrong."

"Excuse me?!" Weiss demanded, her voice rising up a few pitches in volume once her smile had vanished.

"Hear me out; I agree that Ruby has no idea what you're capable of, but you can't really say that you know what she's capable of either," Ventus pointed out to the girl. "Did you ever think that maybe there was a reason that she was skipped ahead, aside from whatever theories that you've come up with since meeting her, I mean?" Her silence was enough of an answer for him, and he continued to press on from there. "From what I've heard, Ozpin himself was the one who granted Ruby the chance to skip ahead, and considering that he's both the headmaster and a very experienced huntsman, I have to believe that there was a very solid reason for his decisions."

"I'll admit that I can understand what you're saying when it comes to his admitting Ruby into Beacon earlier, but are you really willing to just blindly accept his decision in regards to the team's leader even after seeing how exceptional I am," Weiss asked.

"Well to be fair, he also chose the perfect person to lead my team, so I can't say that I find it too hard to argue with him," Ventus pointed out, surprising Weiss a little bit. Though not as much as the next thing he said. "And no offense, but from what I've seen and heard, the only thing that matches your skill in a fight is your really poor attitude."

"How dare you," Weiss started to say, only to be cut off before she could go any further.

"Yeah, that pretty much proves my point, you know," Ventus informed her, silencing Weiss with that one sentence. "I'm not saying that you didn't work hard to become the fighter you are, but at the same time, a lot of us can't help but see you as a girl that has spent her entire life getting everything she wanted just by asking."

"That's not even remotely true," Weiss huffed defiantly with her arms crossed. When Ventus just looked at her in disbelief, she could not help but falter a bit and admit, "Well…not entirely true."

"I never said it was," Ventus reassured her. "But there's more to being a leader than just being a capable fighter and it's not something that just anyone can do. Sure, you can spend your whole life preparing yourself for such a position, study everything you can to make sure that you'll be ready to take charge if or when a situation calls for you to do so, but none of that means anything if you can't give others a real reason to follow you into a fight. I don't just mean that in the sense of having others like you, because there are times when your teammates will be upset with a decision you make, even if it does lead to a favorable result. A real leader is someone that can inspire others to keep going even when it all seems hopeless, or pointless, or just simply like there's no way for them to win. They can give others the courage to follow them anywhere, even if the path leads right into the gates of hell itself, and that's a daunting task for anyone to undertake, especially if they don't feel up to the task, but anyone who can hold that kind of fortitude naturally will always prove that they can do the job in the end. I've only really seen that kind of charisma in a few people before, but I can confidently say that Ruby is one of the people that has it."

"I…suppose that's true," Weiss admitted, thinking back to the initiation when Ruby really got serious and took charge like it was second nature to her.

"Of course, I'm sure you have it as well, and may be able to bring it out in your own way, but throwing a fit because things didn't go your way isn't the best way to prove it to anyone," Ventus continued to advise. "If anything, it just presents you with another challenge that can prove to be just as great as the challenge of being a leader. To be not the best leader, but the best teammate and the best person you can be. That would still require you to continue improving your skills and technique, but at the same time, it can also show that you are willing to let others take the lead when necessary. I'm sure that you can do that, if not for the team as a whole, then definitely for Ruby."

"Do you really think so," Weiss asked. She was very doubtful of the fact after the way she had snapped at the scythe wielder.

"Of course. After all, she does, honestly want to be your friend, probably even more so than she wants to be your leader," Ventus reminded her with a smile. That same smile fell a little though as he added, "We can't always get everything we want, but we can make the best of what we do have, and more often than not, that can lead us to gaining something much better."

Weiss let that stew in her mind for a minute before she finally gave Ventus a smile of thanks, showing that she did at least understand a little of what he was saying. Still, she was left a little confused as to why Ventus seemed a bit sad when he said that last part, but she did not feel like this was the best time to pry. Maybe another time, but certainly not now when they had just shared quite the moment together. That moment seemed like it was going to start coming to a close when Ventus stood up and prepared to leave, and Weiss was not sure if she wanted it to end just yet, so she quickly asked something that she had been wondering about for a little while now, and even more so after something that the blonde had said a little while earlier.

"Ventus, do you really think that Sora is the best person to lead Team SLVR? I mean, he seems even more childish than Ruby," Weiss questioned.

Hearing that Ventus could not help but chuckle out loud, much to Weiss's surprise, and answered, "It's because of how 'childish' he is that I'm so sure that he's the best person to lead." Once again, he could see that he had left Weiss confused, and he had no problem explaining this. "Despite what others may think, Sora's been through a lot in his life; things that would probably have left a more sane person feeling broken and defeated a long time ago. Despite all the hardships he had faced though, he still found a way to keep going while smiling like he's having the time of his life. Add in the fact that he's got a natural charm that helps him to make friends literally everywhere he goes, along with the fact that there are so many hearts that are connected to his because they've seen just how special a person he is, and quite frankly, I would have been more upset if someone else had been named as leader instead of him."

"You really think he's that special," Weiss asked, clearly still skeptical.

"I don't think he is. I know he is, and even after the most recent hardship that he's being forced to deal with even now, I still believe that he is that special," Ventus corrected with a smile. "I mean, it would be a little strange otherwise, considering that he's actually saved my life at least three times now, and that he's saved the lives of all the rest of his friends a few times as well, and all without a single concern for his own wellbeing, or a thought of receiving any thanks afterwards, or in some cases, without really knowing who we were at the time."

That surprised Weiss a little. After enduring the kind of childhood that she had been subjected to, she honestly found it hard to believe that someone so kind and pure could really exist, and yet, here was Ventus, claiming that his leader was such a person. Sure, she was also a little curious about what kind of hardships he was talking about, including the one that he claimed Sora was currently dealing, but that was a small factor in comparison to all the rest of what Ventus had said. It really helped her to realize that there was a much more elaborate picture underneath than the one she had first painted upon meeting Sora, and after thinking it over, she could not help but wonder if the she had painted was just a different picture altogether.

When she noticed that Ventus was standing up to leave, Weiss quickly rose from her seat as well and said, "Thank you for listening, and for what you said, Ventus. I think you've really given me a lot to think about."

"Anytime," Ventus smiled in return. "But on one condition."

"What's that?"

"Just call me Ven, okay? All my friends do," the blonde replied.

"Wait, what? You…actually think of me as a friend," Weiss questioned in surprise. "But…After everything that I've said and done to others, and some of your friends…"

"Hey, Sora's not the only one who can make friends everywhere he goes. He's just the one who's best at it," Ventus shrugged in return while resting his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner. "Besides, you're the only one here who hasn't confused me for Roxas even once, or vice versa, so that definitely earns you more than a few points in your favor."

Now Weiss was starting to grin a little, honestly feeling really excited at the prospect of being considered as the blonde boy's friend just for a simple thing like that. "You know, in all honesty, I can't understand why people would confuse you two for one another," Weiss admitted. "There are way more differences between you two besides your choices of attire."

"Oh? How so," Ventus questioned, curious as to what things she would point out.

"Well for one thing, your hair's a lighter shade of blonde than Roxas's, and the same can be said for your voice as well. His sounds a little more rough and deep, while yours sounds relaxed and light," Weiss easily listed without even trying. After glancing over Ventus for a minute, she found one other thing to add, and said, "And from what I can tell, you do seem like you have a little bit more of a tan on you than Roxas does."

Now it was Ven's turn to grin widely, feeling very happy to hear that someone had noticed some physical differences between him and the former Nobody that did not include the clothes that they wore. More than that, hearing Weiss say all of this actually gave him a rather warm feeling that he could not remember experiencing before. Though whether he had or not mattered little to him, because Ventus just somehow knew that this was likely the start of something really great. Looking up at the sky, he could see that the sun had almost completely set, and he quickly moved back over to the bench again and asked, "Say, would you like to spend a few minutes stargazing with me? I did mention that I was trying to find a good place to do that from, so might as well start with this spot since we're already here."

Weiss happily accepted the offer, and the two were soon seated side by side once again, this time without the weight of any concerns or problems to bring down the mood, and all the while, unaware that their presence had given some inspiration to a certain girl in a red hood after she had seen them.

* * *

It ended up being very late into the evening when Weiss finally returned to her team's dorm. In all honesty, she had not expected to be stargazing with Ventus for so long, but the way that his eyes lit up as he watched the stars, both as they appeared in the night sky and afterwards was just so captivating that she found a certain element of entertainment in it that had not come from the night sky. Really, it was almost like she was watching a little kid seeing fireworks for the first time in a way, and that made the whole experience quite charming. Of course, that was not to say she was just watching either Ventus or the stars the entire time; they also shared a little bit of small talk as well. It was nothing too big or heavy like the conversation that they had when she first found him out there; just some small tidbits about some things about their lives up until now, a story or two that they each enjoyed hearing growing up, and probably most memorable for Weiss, her learning about the legend that Ven's friend Terra had once told him about the stars in the sky. It was quite the intriguing tale about how every star up in the sky was actually another world, and how the light from those stars was the light of the worlds' hearts shining down on them like a million lanterns, but at the same time, it did seem a little silly. Sure, no one on Remnant could say for sure since they had not discovered a way to travel beyond their own world, but there was just no way that other worlds could exists, at least not in the way that Ventus was claiming.

Matters of what Weiss believed or not, she did have a lovely time hanging out with Ventus, but there always comes a moment where one has to call it a night and Weiss was doing just that once she realized how late in the evening it was getting. As she traveled back to her room though, Weiss knew she was probably going to have to face Ruby at some point and apologize for what she had said earlier. After her talk with Ventus, she could admit that she had been more than a little harsh taking out her problems on Ruby like that, but she was still puzzling over how she could show Ruby that she did want to make things right. The only other thing that she was more concerned about was whether or not Ruby had told her big sister about their fight. Even if she had not seen the full extent of it, Weiss had been more than capable of realizing that Yang was very protective of her little sister from the moment that she first met her, and she did not wish to be the poor soul that was on the receiving end of whatever wrath Yang could unleash onto someone that had upset her sister.

When she finally returned to her dorm, Weiss would not deny that she had breathed a sigh of relief at seeing that Yang and Blake were both already fast asleep, the former more so than the latter, but she was much more interested in seeing if Ruby was still awake or not. Going up to her partner's bunk, Weiss lifted the white sheet covering it, only to be left surprised at what she found underneath. Ruby did seem to be asleep, but it did not seem like she had intended to fall asleep just yet, because she was sleeping amongst a plethora of open books, notes, and homework assignments that they been given that day. Not just that though, but even a few other things that Weiss did not remember them being told to look over, and a few notes on what Ruby seemed to know about the capabilities of her teammates, along with some rough ideas on various different strategies that they could implement when working together. Needless to say, Weiss was now impressed to the point of being speechless. Not only that, but it just reinforced the point that she needed to make things right with Ruby now more than ever.

Slowly reaching over while quietly clearing her throat for a stronger effect, Weiss gave her partner a gentle nudge that slowly started to arouse Ruby from her slumber. When the younger girl noticed who was attempting to wake her, she quickly jumped up in her bed with a start, and began rapidly explaining, "Weiss! I-I was studying and then I fell asleep I'm sorry…"

Before Ruby could say anything more at the risk of waking the other two members of their team, Weiss quickly covered her mouth with a finger to her lips signaling quiet as she took in another study of Ruby's bed. Upon spotting the empty mug with Beacon's emblem on it, Weiss looked to Ruby and asked, "How do you take her coffee?"

"Uh, I-I don't…"

"Answer the question," Weiss insisted before Ruby could finish.

"Uhh! Cream and five sugars," Ruby quickly replied.

Weiss could not help but roll her eyes with a sigh at the rather childish preference of coffee, but then again, she probably should not have been too surprised by this since it was Ruby. "Don't move," Weiss ordered before disappearing from Ruby's sight again. Ruby just glanced left to right in confusion afterwards, until Weiss came back with a steaming hot cup of the very drink she was asking about in hand and a smile on her face. "Here."

"Um, thanks Weiss," Ruby nodded in quiet acceptance as she carefully took the offered drink in her hand. She did not want to spill any of it on her notes or bed, after all, but she was also really surprised about this sudden one-eighty that Weiss's mood seemed to have taken from earlier today.

Weiss must have realized this, as her face fell a little before she spoke up again. "Ruby, I think you have what it takes to be a good leader," Weiss slowly admitted, and when Ruby began to smile a little bit upon hearing that, she found a little more encouragement building up to finish her promise. "Just know, that I am going to be the best teammate you'll ever have." That made Ruby's smile fully form, and earned the heiress a grateful nod in return that seemed to raise her spirits even more than they had been before. Feeling that she had said enough, Weiss then started to lower herself from Ruby's bed as she said, "Good luck studying." She had to pause for a second though when she noticed something on Ruby's homework assignment and quickly pointed to the item in question as she added, "That's wrong by the way."

Ruby quickly turned to see what Weiss was referring to, and was able to figure out her mistake on the assignment quickly enough. She figured that she must have made it when she was starting to doze off, but before she could start to correct it, she heard Weiss calling out to her again. "Hey Ruby," the heiress had said.

"Uh-huh," Ruby hummed to show she was listening even as she turned to face Weiss, who looked to be heading back out of the room for something else, likely to return her weapon to her personal locker, since she still had it on her.

Weiss hesitated for a moment before she finally admitted, "I always wanted bunk beds as a kid."

Even though she had left the room and closed the door after saying that, Weiss could still see the grin that had taken up residence on Ruby's face in her mind after she had said that, and to be honest, that actually made her a little happier than she had first thought it would. It really seemed like Ventus might have had a point in what he was telling her earlier about the natural charisma of a leader, and she was soon starting to think of other ways she could better show she was serious in her promise to Ruby. At least, that was what she was thinking about until she heard someone grunting in exertion, along with the sounds of something cutting through the air.

Deciding to investigate, Weiss eventually found herself out in one of the courtyards between the dorms and the locker room, and was a little surprised to see Sora hard at work running through what she could only assume were various drills with his Keyblade. After the fight in the Emerald Forest, Weiss had assumed that Sora did not possess any form of fighting technique in his abilities, but now, seeing him carefully exercising his breathing and swinging his strange blade in fluid, repeated motions, she could tell that while it was not any technique she had seen or heard of before, it was certainly much more developed than something that she expected of someone that had not been in very many fights before. Sure, it still proved that he was more self-taught than anything, but with the way his movements flowed together from one to the next, it seemed much more refined than those of most self-taught fighters that Weiss knew about. Taking in the glean of sweat on his brow, along with just how heavy his breathing was, and Weiss came to realize that he had likely been doing this for quite some time, but there was something else that caught her attention.

That other thing was the look in Sora's eyes. No longer did they hold the carefree, childlike excitement that she had seen from him so often before now, but a hardened, cold steel that she had only seen from veteran huntsmen and soldiers, and even her older sister on a few occasions. Seeing such a look on someone like Sora was not just surprising; it was actually a little scary, because it seemed so out of place on him, but for Weiss, there was one other thing she felt from seeing this. It actually surprised her a little that she was getting that feeling, too, but considering what she had seen of the leader of Team SLVR thus far, there was no denying that she was definitely excited about seeing just what he was capable of first-hand.

When Sora finally seemed to have reached a stopping point in which he could catch his breath, Weiss decided now was a good time to announce her presence to him, and stepped forward to do so. Apparently she had been a little more quiet than she thought, because the minute Sora realized someone was approaching him, he instantly spun around to aim his Keyblade at her as if he were expecting an attack, much to Weiss's surprise. Upon hearing her frightened gasp and seeing the startled look on her face, Sora quickly stood down while his hardened was replaced with an apologetic one. "Oh, Weiss, I'm so sorry about that. I didn't hear you coming until just now," Sora said. He then turned a little more thoughtful as he asked, "Why are you out here, anyway? Was I being a little louder than I thought? Because I came out here so that I wouldn't disturb anyone…"

"No, no! You're fine. I hadn't even realized you were here until I had come outside myself and started passing by," Weiss reassured him. She then asked, "Do you…always train this late at night?"

"As of recently, yeah," Sora confessed as he started to retake his original position in the middle of the impromptu training field. "I have to make sure that I'm at my best so that none of my friends get hurt." His voice turned a little quieter as he added, "Not again, at least."

Weiss had almost missed that last part, but she had not been able to really hear it to the point where she could make out the exact words. Just enough that she was able to realize he was thinking of whatever hardship Ventus mentioned Sora was currently going through. Having realized this, Weiss decided that she should try and keep him from thinking of such sad things, and said, "Listen…I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of things."

"Uh…Sure, what's up," Sora inquired, a little curious and at the same time cautious.

Taking a deep breath, Weiss looked Sora dead in the eye and said, "I would like to have a chance to fight you some time."

"Huh? You want to fight me," Sora asked, not sure he had heard right.

"Not right this second, but maybe in our next combat class together or something. You've shown that you're a capable fighter, and I was hoping that I could actually test my skills against yours in a little sparring match," Weiss explained.

Hearing that explanation, Sora was able to relax a little more. For a second he thought that Weiss had been asking because he had somehow really upset her recently, but hearing that she only wanted a friendly sparring match so that she could get better as a fighter definitely came as a relief to him. "Okay, sure," Sora agreed with his usual smile. "Just say the word, and I'll be there and ready."

Weiss smiled in thanks for Sora's acceptance, but it quickly fell when she came to the other thing that she wanted to ask him. "Also, Ven told me that you're really good at making friends, so…I was wondering…" the more she spoke about this, the more red with embarrassment Weiss's face became, but she pushed on, knowing that this was something she had to do. "I wanted to ask if you could give me a few tips on…how to be a better friend to someone. Or at least to Ruby."

Upon hearing that, Sora could not help his smile from turning a little humorous, but he managed to keep his laughter at bay, seeing as this definitely looked hard for Weiss to ask. After ensuring that he would not let any of his chuckles out, Sora finally replied, "There's not really any trick to being a good friend. I mean, sure, it's nice if you want to help them out with stuff, whether you can or not, but all you really have to do is just spend time with each other and have fun. Though, in my own personal opinion, it does help if you can smile a little more when you're with your friends."

"Really? How is smiling more supposed to help," Weiss asked skeptically. You could not blame her, given that she had been around more than a few fake smiles for a great deal of her life, so she did not really see how such a thing could really be of benefit to her trying to improve her admittedly rocky friendship with Ruby.

That all changed when Sora suddenly dismissed his Keyblade and used his hands to help him make a rather ridiculous face at her as he replied, "Like this."

Weiss just stared at him for a few minutes, hardly believing what she was seeing right now, but when Sora continued to hold the expression, she found that she could not hold back what was bubbling up inside of her, and soon burst out laughing like no tomorrow. "Hahaha! Oh…Oh sweet Oum, that face…HAHAHAHAHA," Weiss somehow managed to say in the midst of her laughing.

Dropping his silly expression, Sora could only smile happily and say, "There, that's it. You see, Weiss. Sometimes, all it takes is a smile, or a little bit of silliness."

Having gotten her laughter to settle after that episode, Weiss just continued smiling at Sora as she said, "Thank you for that, Sora. It would seem that Ven was right about you."

"Huh," Sora hummed in confusion, not entirely sure if he wanted to know everything that Ventus had said to Weiss about him.

Weiss just continued smiling as she carried along on her way to the locker rooms, before she glanced back at Sora one more time and said, "You should probably considering getting some sleep soon, though. You don't want to risk falling asleep in class anymore than already did today, after all."

Sora was still a little off-put by Weiss's earlier statement about Ven, but he did at least manage to give her a smile in return for the advice. Sure, he had no intention of going to bed just yet, as he still wanted to run a few drills that he could not do with just anyone watching, but he could acknowledge that it was getting really late. So, he resolved to run through those drills quickly and turn in the minute he was done, all the while thinking that things were just getting better and better every day, even with the few bumps in the road that they had encountered on this particular day.

* * *

**_AN: Well, wasn't that an interesting first day? Not really too much of a change from the canon story, beyond some minor details here and there, though, but what can you really do?_**

**_Of course, that lack of change is the big reason as to why a lot of the start of the chapter was focused on Team SLVR, and since you're all likely wondering about it now, yes, they will be following Team RWBY's lead and turn their beds into bunk beds, though they will likely be a bit more stable than RWBY's._**

**_Ruby: Hey, bunk beds are awesome! Why wouldn't they want to follow our lead on that?_**

**_AN: Well, they might have a ceiling fan for one...Anyways, yeah, I had Ventus take Port's place in the conversation with Weiss, and as an added bonus, that also helped get the gears turning a little more on making Windchill happen. It's kinda a sweet, really. Plus, now Weiss is starting to break her icy shell, and that moment at the end between her and Sora has certainly proven to be a bit of help, too._**

**_Sora: I was honestly kinda hoping that you would at least imply that Weiss and I had a spar at the end there._**

**_AN: Well, I felt like such a thing should be given a little more detail than just saying that it was going to happen and then moving onto another scene/ending the chapter. Don't worry though, we will see that face-off very soon. Like, next chapter soon. And yeah, Sora gave Weiss the funny face special. It was just too tempting to pass up._**

**_Anyways, it also helped Weiss to get a few more clues on just what kind of people Sora and his friends are, and now, she's joined some of her other teammates in wondering about the mystery behind the Keyblade wielders. Yeah, that's going to be a big thing that will eventually come back to bite Team SLVR in the bum, huh? Seems like Yang is the only one who doesn't have some kind of big suspicion about the four, doesn't it? Of course, that only begs the question as to how long that will really last, or even if she is the only one who isn't a little curious about the mystery?_**

**_Moving it along, aside from making Windchill start rolling a little more, there were other reasons why I had Ven take Port's place in that conversation. For one thing, I feel like the point would be made a little better to Weiss if it was coming from someone closer to her age, and who has been through much more in life than most people their age have, or at least, their physical age. Plus, this also helped Ventus to get a better idea of who Weiss is as a person, beyond just what's on the surface, so there's that as well._**

**_As for how Team SLVR looks in their Beacon uniforms, Sora's got the basic ensemble, with the addition of his necklace, Lea's is much more relaxed and...well, you saw the description in the chapter. Roxas is probably the only one who doesn't have any customization to his uniform, while Ventus is still wearing his shoulder armor along with the rest of the outfit. Hey, if Terra and Aqua would still wear those things when they're not in warrior wear, then it's not much of a stretch that Ven would too, you know._**

**_Okay, I think that covers everything I wanted to go into detail on today, so let's get this all wrapped up, and move Onto the Preview!..._**

**_No school seems to be complete without a local bully to terrorize the students, and this particular bully seems to focus a lot of his attention on some of Beacon's Faunus students and Jaune. A day that starts out as rather light-hearted and exciting quickly turns sour when Sora and Roxas find themselves doing something about the antics of Cardin Winchester, but just what will come about as a result of their interference in Cardin's actions against other students? Can the Keyblade wielders put an end to Cardin's less than honorable ways, or will Jaune have to step up and show his tormentor that he's not as weak as seems? Things are really going down, next time._**

**_Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy._**


	5. Bully Battles

**_AN: Hey, what's going on everybody! lyokoMARVELanime, aka lyoko Prime, here saying welcome to another chapter for Remnant of the Key!_**

**_[audience applause]_**

**_Blake: Lyoko Prime?_**

**_AN: What? It's less of a mouthful, and I figured that it would work as a nice nickname. Anyways, as you all have likely guessed from last chapter's preview, today we will be diving into the first JNPR arc of the RWBY series, more or less, with a few Kingdom Hearts change-ups to give it a little extra flare. But before we do any of that, let's have a look at the reviews to see who and what we can answer, shall we?_**

**_Weiss: I don't really see why you would answer these reviews. Most of the time it seems like their questions are things that you can't answer without giving away crucial details for later on in the story._**

**_AN: It's all good form to answer, Weiss. Besides, it's not like I ever come right out and say all of the exact details in most of my answers, ergo, no spoilers are given._**

**_Yang: Well, I think it'd be nice to tell everyone how you later plan on doing a kind of post-credits-like scene at the end of a chapter to introduce..._**

**_AN: Dah! SPOILER! [hits the control!]_**

**_Yang: [suddnely has to duck, dodge, bob, and weave to avoid several spinning blades coming at her, all of which seem to miss] Okay, that seemed a little too extreme, even for a place like...[pauses when she sees a few locks of blonde hair floating to the ground, and then turns an angry glare at lyoko] You...You...[Lets out an angry glare as her Semblance flares up]_**

**_AN: [flinches back from Yang before looking to all of you in the audience] Uh-oh. I did not think that one through...YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKES! [runs away screaming his head off]_**

**_Yang: I WILL MURDER YOU! [blasts off after lyoko]_**

**_Ruby: Um...Well, I guess we'll just have to answer the reviews in his place._**

**_Blake: Can we even do that?_**

**_Ruby: Sure, if we knew where his notes were._**

**_Jaune: [suddenly comes into the room] Hey guys! Sorry I'm late, but lyoko wanted me to grab his notes on things he wanted to say in response to the last chapter's reviews just in case something happened to prevent him from answering._**

**_RWB: [look to where lyoko is still being chased by Yang, who is now firing Ember Celica at him in an attempt to hurt him] At least he thought that part through._**

**_Ruby: Thanks Jaune. [takes the notes from Jaune and passes them out to her teammates before she begins leafing through for a good starting point] Okay, let's start...here. "Dragon Rider 66", lyoko can confirm that yes, the members of Ozpin's inner circle, or at least the ones we've seen so far, do have at least some basic knowledge about the Keyblade and other worlds, though more so in the case of Qrow and Raven. Also, if your guess about Kairi's current location is what lyoko is thinking that it is, then you've most likely got it right, but please don't say anything about it in your next review, and don't worry. It won't be as long as you think before we see her and the individual(s) she's with at the moment._**

**_Next up is "Grimlock987", to which lyoko says...What makes you think Aqua's going to need to come to Remnant to deliver her punishment on the boys?...Yeah, I don't really know what more I can say beyond that without giving away serious spoilers._**

**_Weiss: If I may be allowed to answer the "Guest" of 9/1/2019, what makes you think Aqua would be upset about Ven getting together with me "behind her back", as you put it? As entertaining as that might be, I'm sure she would not react that badly...At least, I hope she does not. [glances around in an attempt to see if Aqua is secretly spying on them from somewhere]_**

**_Blake: Moving on to "Monkey D. Conan", lyoko hasn't really put all that much thought into what Team SLVR's Semblances would be, assuming he does have their Aura unlocked, mainly because they'd be likely to use whatever abilities that they had up until now more than anything else. He is open to suggestions though on what everyone thinks would be good ones for each member, so everyone is welcome to comment on that. In terms of your question about how Sora and Lea stack up next to Qrow and Taiyang, he could not really say much about the latter, since he's sure that we have not seen the full extent of what Ruby and Yang's father is capable of yet, but if he were to try and compare Sora to Qrow...it looks like he would say that Sora is definitely quite a bit stronger than Qrow, if he were to stop holding back, so you would be right about how it would help with the humor when Ruby's family finds about Sora and Ruby. As for who figures out they're falling for Lea and Ventus first between Yang and Weiss, at the moment, Yang does seem likely to be the one who gets to go out on a date with her Keyblade partner, but as far as actually recognizing romantic feelings, he would say that it seems more likely that Weiss is going to figure it out first...Does anyone else think that's confusing?_**

**_Ruby: A little bit, but hey, people don't have to fully recognize their feelings for someone before they go on a date with them. Some people have to go on a date or two with the person before they really get an idea of just how deep their feelings for the person goes._**

**_Weiss: Says the socially awkward weapons nerd._**

**_Ruby: Hey, just because I don't know how to deal with people that well, doesn't mean I'm completely clueless about stuff like that._**

**_Anyways, "theIrishWriter", lyoko wants you to know that he actually has several of those inflatable Xehanort dummies, and to remind you that this studio is like Looney Tunes world in that no one can get seriously hurt or killed while they're in here (unless they're someone like Deadpool), so Xehanort's still got a ways to go before he's actually hospitalized. As for your question regarding Sora and Ven's age at this time, he actually views this story taking place a few months or so after Kingdom Hearts 3, at least to the point where Sora's birthday has come and gone at least. As far as Kairi being alive is concerned though, at the moment, they really have more of a hunch that she's okay, but until they get confirmation, they're still considering her as MIA, which means that there's a chance that Sora should be ready to move on._**

**_As for your questions, lyoko has not considered doing a one-shot like the one you suggested, and he's not entirely sure how he would be able to explain it away or make it work._**

**_Lea: Ahem, I've got the next part, Ruby. First off, Kairi's actually busy rehearsing for her next appearance in Keyblade Legion and beyond, along with her first appearance in this series, and yes, this is, apparently, going to end up being a series, with this being the first story. Secondly, I'm pretty sure that Kairi and I would both be pretty stunned if we found out we were related, and I'd likely hate myself even more for what I did to her as Axel if that were the case. I mean, as we've learned from KH3, I already feel bad enough to the point where I was constantly apologizing to her for what I did, so just imagine how much of a mess I'd be if you added a revelation like that into the mix._**

**_Ventus: As for me, assuming that you're right to think that Sora's parents were around during the age of Fairy tales, or just people I knew from my very distant past, I probably wouldn't be that surprised. If anything, I think they would be more shocked to learn that I apparently hadn't really aged all that much since the last time they saw me._**

**_Blake: Moving on to the review by "Anonymaton", lyoko wants you to know that Aqua will be appearing in the story again soon, so you shouldn't have to wait for that for too much longer. As for your experiment, well...even though we did run with it, we've actually got a few ideas of our own on how fast Ruby is._**

**_Weiss: Considering that she once used the slipstream of her running at super speed to lift a large mess of food and Team JNPR during our food fight with them, and made it all go flying into the opposite wall, while simultaneously creating a massive crack in said wall upon reaching it, it's safe to say that she's at least as fast as an F3 tornado, or even the speed of sound if she were to go at full speed. At least, that's our guess._**

**_Blake: Either way, we tried the suggested experiment, and...well, you were not too far off about the sound it makes on approach from a long way off. Just switch out "mine, mine, mine" for "gimme, gimme, gimme"._**

**_Ruby: [crosses her arms with a huff as she starts to cutely pout, much to everyone's amusement] I was really hungry, and you guys tied me to a chair just to make sure I didn't start too soon._**

**_Weiss: Well, you are rather impulsive most of the time._**

**_Ruby: Moving on...To the last couple of "Guest"s who commented on the matters involving MCU Spider-Man, while lyoko does agree with your opinions in saying that Sony's entirely to blame for the MCU apparently losing Spidey for the moment, and would like to add that he's at least a little optimistic that it won't last forever, seeing as he's sure that the fans will have a major reaction that will prove very bad for Sony in the future, he would prefer that you keep those comments to the stories that the web-head has actually appeared in at least once for the moment. This story does not count right now, apparently. Though he does like that idea that the guest who suggested something involving the Spider-Verse had mentioned, and so do I. Why didn't Sony just run with that while negotiating for a better deal with Disney, as opposed to being greedy little kids and just storming out in a huff._**

**_Blake: As you can see, Ruby really likes Spider-Man, and was just as upset about what happened to MCU Spidey as any other fan, but with all the reviews covered, we don't really have any reason to keep you all here. At least, aside from seeing if lyoko will come out of his attempts at escaping Yang's wrath in one piece. [looks to see Yang still chasing lyoko, throwing blasts of dust, punches, and even several, massive, heavy objects as she goes] Yeah...I think they're going to be going at it for a while._**

**_Ruby: Well, we'll just have to start on the chapter while we wait. Cue up that disclaimer, and get the show rolling! Banzai!_**

**_lyokoMARVELanime does not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story._**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Bully Battles**

You could not imagine the relief that all four boys felt when they realized that there was at least one class in which they would actually be doing things that they expected to do at a school designed to train warriors. After dealing with all of the usual variety of classes but one that involved actually using their combat abilities, the members of Team SLVR were more than ready for something that they knew they would all excel at, and from the look of things, the same could be said for the rest of their fellow first-year students, too. Ruby and Yang looked especially eager for their session of combat class, as did Nora and, to an extent, Pyrrha, but what surprised some of them was how nervous Jaune seemed to be about said class. He had proven that he was a pretty decent fighter back in the Emerald Forest, but then again, the others could also remember how worried he was when Ozpin was giving out instructions for the initiation, so they figured that it was probably just a matter of him not having a great deal of confidence in himself. When it came time for Jaune to take to the arena, they all found that they were not entirely wrong, but they were not exactly right either.

When Jaune's first match in combat class came around, everyone was able to get a full display of his combat abilities, and if they were to describe it in as few words as possible, the word "basic" would definitely be the first one to come to mind. Jaune did not fight like a total beginner, or like someone who was just improvising based off of things that he had seen others do, but it was clear to everyone that his fighting skills had not been developed beyond the basic stuff, especially to anyone else who fought with a sword. Sora especially noticed quite a few areas where Jaune could improve, being a self-taught swordsman, and having seen swordsmen that had a little more training beyond that, but the blonde boy could have certainly been worse. Jaune's swings were much more centered and focused than any beginner, and he always managed to direct them to the target he intended, and more often than not, actually hit their mark in the way he was aiming for. The only problems he seemed to have were the fact that he was more focused on offense than he was defense, despite the fact that he also used a shield, and the matter of who Jaune's opponent was.

The opponent in question was none other than Cardin Winchester, leader of Team CRDL (Cardinal), and from the moment that the Keyblade wielders laid eyes on the group, they could tell that the team members were all your stereotypical muscle heads that thought that they were on top of the world just because they had big muscles, fancy armor, and big weapons. More than that, Sora and Roxas had seen how Cardin and his teammates treated a few of the other students quite a few times in between classes, and to say that they were not pleased with what they had witnessed would be like saying that the sun was a little warm; a very severe understatement. The guy was a big bully, and his teammates were not much better, following him around and doing everything he told them to do like it was no big deal. It reminded Roxas a lot of Seifer and his gang back in Twilight Town, and since Sora had never been a fan of bullies in general, no one was surprised to see that they were both glaring at Cardin just as heatedly every time he fell into their line of sight. His bad attitude aside, Cardin must have possessed some level of skill as a huntsman-in-training to be allowed into Beacon, and unfortunately, Jaune was currently getting a first-hand display of those very skills.

Cardin's fighting style was clearly similar to Jaune's in the sense that he focused more on offense than defense, but since he did not have a shield like the blonde, Cardin did not really have the option of considering defense too often. It did not seem like he had to though with how Jaune fought, because the leader of Team JNPR just kept getting back up and charging in again no matter how many times Cardin knocked him down, even when he really should have tried a different approach. Proof of this held true when Jaune rose to his feet again, not knowing that his Aura levels were very low at the moment and rose to lock his sword with Cardin's mace. Jaune pushed with all his might in an attempt to make Cardin fall, but the other boy was just too big and strong for Jaune's efforts to really do all that much.

"This is the part where you lose," Cardin mocked with a smug grin.

"Over my dead body," Jaune retorted, and next thing Cardin knew, the blonde had swung his shield around to hit him in the side.

Jaune's shield managed to hit its mark, making Cardin stumble a little, and giving Jaune a chance to push a slight advantage, but Cardin was able to recover quickly enough and managed to deflect Jaune's follow-up attacks until they locked weapons again. Jaune was about to try a similar to tactic to the one he used earlier, but he never got the chance as Cardin suddenly kneed him in the crotch, taking all wind out of Jaune's sails, and making him drop to the floor in pain, while every other male watching this all winced in sympathy for the blonde.

"Ouch! That's gonna hurt tomorrow morning," Lea muttered to his teammates, who could only nod in equal agreement and sympathy.

"Cheap shot," Roxas grumbled, not liking the use of such underhanded, below-the-belt tactics, even if he could admit that they were sometimes beneficial. The only thing he liked even less was how Cardin was now raising his mace above his head like he was getting ready to crush Jaune's skull, and he likely would have rushed in to help had it not been for the fact that for one thing, he would have gotten into trouble for interfering, and for another thing, someone else managed to stop him before he could swing.

"Cardin, that's enough," Glynda admonished over the buzzer that had just sounded while the lights around the arena all came back to their normal level of brightness. When Cardin did not stand down right away, Goodwitch shot him a glare that just dared him to try and challenge her further, prompting the boy to finally back down and step back. Seeing that the combatants were now calmed, Glynda looked to the rest of the class and began her quick lecture. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match."

"You have to admit, that is a pretty sound way of deciding a winner," Ventus whispered to his teammates. "Instead of just waiting for the usual ring-out or knockout, they can use Aura like a life gauge, so there's less chance of someone receiving really serious injuries at the end of a fight."

"Yeah, but at the same time, it's also a pretty nonrealistic way of training these kids for fights against something outside of tournament style duels," Roxas pointed out. "I doubt the Grimm or any other bad guy they go up against would care how much Aura a person has at any given time, and if they did, it would only be because their lack of any Aura would make them easier to finish off for good."

"Come on, Roxas, lighten up. These kids aren't that stupid to think that everything will always be that easy," Lea said in the defense of their fellow students. "That's why the Profs are all making sure that they remember they can check their Aura levels with their Scrolls."

"Some more so than others," Ventus pointed out, as he listened to Professor Goodwitch lecturing Jaune on that very matter, while reminding him of how one should react once gauging their Aura properly. He just wished that Glynda had not ended it the way that she did, seeing as it opened up another chance for Cardin to throw another barb at Jaune's expense, earning the bully another pair of fierce glares from Sora and Roxas right after.

Roxas continued glaring at Cardin, even after he had walked off and out of sight, before muttering, "Just give me five minutes in the ring with him…If I'm feeling merciful…"

"I'll only need you to give _me_ one," Sora informed the blonde.

Thankfully, all thoughts of ways that the two could make Cardin pay for his bullying was put out of their minds when Goodwitch called for everyone's attention again. "Remember everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale."

Team SLVR may not have known all that much about the Vytal Festival, but from the way that Ruby, Yang, and even Weiss were fidgeting excitedly in their seats, it was clear that there was plenty of reason to be excited for it. Add in the fact that there was going to be a combat tournament, and the boys could all admit that they could see at least one reason why they should be excited for the event. Still, Roxas, Ventus, and Lea were all wondering if they should even ask about whether or not they would participate. Part of it was because they were unsure if they would be allowed to take part, given that this would not be like the Games at Olympus Coliseum, but the main reason was because they did not know if Sora would feel up for it. Sure, he had let his competitive streak get him into various competitions in the past while on a big mission, but considering the nature of this mission that they were on, it was hard to really say if he would want to sign up for a tournament this time.

Despite this, there was not really all that much harm in asking, and since it would not be the first time that most of them had gotten into a tournament on another world, Lea felt all the more justified in voicing the question for the group. "So, we are going to be signing up for this thing, right," Lea questioned.

"We'll see," Sora quietly replied a little more evenly than the rest would have liked. "The Vytal Festival alone would provide us a great chance for finding clues that may help in our mission, but if the tournament hinders our search in anyway, then it would probably be better to just be spectators."

"Come on, Sora. You love getting into big fight tournaments, especially against strong opponents," Roxas encouraged, hoping to bring out a little bit of that competitive side in his former other.

"Even I know when to put games on hold for something important," Sora argued, and he did not say all that much more on the matter.

The other three boys all exchanged worried looks after hearing his answer, but all further thought on the matter was dropped when Goodwitch spoke up again, saying, "Now then, I believe we still have time for one more match. Would anyone like to volunteer?"

"I would, ma'am," Weiss instantly answered with a hand up.

"Very well, Miss Schnee," Goodwitch agreed as she began tapping at her Scroll. "Let's see about finding you an opponent."

"Actually, if you don't mind, I already had someone in mind," Weiss confessed, earning her a curious look from the professor that prompted her to name the person in question. Hearing no protests from their teacher, Weiss declared, "I would like to have a match with Sora of Team SLVR."

That got the attention of everyone in class. A lot of rumors had been going around about the team of Keyblade wielders since Initiation, especially after one or two students had somehow caught Sora outside at night when he was doing some of his basic drills, so hearing that one of the members of that team, and the leader at that, was likely going to provide them all with a real demonstration of his talents, naturally got everyone pretty excited. Despite her otherwise neutral expression, even Goodwitch would admit that she was intrigued by what these strange boys that Ozpin had claimed to be from another world were capable of, but all the same, she was not going to force Sora into the match, and that was why she looked to him and asked, "Mister Hikari, do you have any opposition to this request?"

"Nope, none at all," Sora said with a smile as he stood up. "Besides, I had promised Weiss that I would have a match with her sometime, so what better time than now?"

"Well, so glad that we can allow you to be a man of your word, Mister Hikari," Goodwitch sarcastically replied, though on the inside, she would admit that she was glad to see that the leader of Team SLVR was such a person.

Having that settled, the two combatants moved to prepare for their match, and soon enough, Sora and Weiss were standing center stage in the ring, with weapons ready and eager smirks on their faces. Everyone was on the edge of their seats for this match-up, not just because it would promise to be a very exciting fight, but also because they would get to see a member of Team SLVR in action at last. Ruby certainly proved that with how she was flipping her gaze back and forth between Weiss, Sora, and Sora's Keyblade, clearly unable to decide which part of the fight she was more excited about. That, and she was unable to decide which of her two friends she should be cheering for right now, and from the look of things, Yang was not much better off, at least by a small margin. The other members of Team SLVR were pretty excited too, but they were more curious about something else besides what the fight was promising.

"Do either of you guys know which Keychains Sora's going with for this," Lea quietly asked. He did not want to risk saying anything that might give away Sora's strategy, in case Weiss could somehow hear them, or even saying anything that might cause their secrets to be blown if anyone else overheard, and thankfully, his two friends were doing their best to stay just as quiet.

"Well, we can clearly see that he's got Kingdom Key's, considering that's the form his Keyblade is in right now, and I think he might have Shooting Star equipped as well, but as far as his third one, I don't know. I hadn't actually thought to try and look as he was heading up," Ventus confessed.

"I know I saw him switch out his third Keychain for something else, but I couldn't get a good look at what the new one was when he did," Roxas informed the other two.

"What Keychain was he even using before," Lea asked.

"I'm pretty sure that he hadn't switched out the three he had at the end of Initiation up until now, so if nothing else, we know that it probably isn't Nano Gear," Ventus recalled while crossing his arms. At that point, a rather worrying thought crossed his mind, and he could not help but ask, "You don't think he's going to use something like Ultima Weapon, do you?"

"Come on, Ven. Sora's not that dumb; he knows that would be overkill in a match like this, and he definitely wouldn't go into a fight with that much power against a friend, even if they asked him. Besides, he told me on the way here that he was going to try to avoid using Ultima Weapon as much as possible since the transformations associated with that one are the most obvious give-away to you-know-what," Lea whispered, referring to the whole fact that they were from other worlds at the end just in case someone could hear them.

"Maybe he's using Starlight? I mean, that has been one of his defaults ever since he got it, even if its Form Change isn't that different from the one that he gets from Kingdom Key, aside from the extra amount of power increase," Roxas reasoned.

"I don't think so. Sora told me the other day that he was considering only using Starlight in case he needed something that was similar to Kingdom Key but with extra power. So, I guess all of this means we're just going to have to wait and see what he's got in store for Weiss," Ventus finally concluded as he and the other two turned their attention onto the stage.

Right when the three boys had faced the stage, the battle had begun, prompting Weiss and Sora to charge each other. When they met in the middle of the ring, their blades soon clashed with one another in a series of faint rings, clings, and clangs of metal striking metal, while the strikes themselves were so fast that one would think that the two were almost moving at super speed. At one point, Sora rolled under one of Weiss's strikes in an attempt to strike her from behind, but Weiss was quick to jump away from Sora before his attack could connect, and the second after she had spun around to face Sora again, Weiss rushed forward in a high-speed thrust that was aimed right at the boy's chest. Thankfully, Sora managed to parry the blow and land at least one hit on Weiss in return, earning him the privilege of first blood, figuratively speaking that is. Not that it deterred Weiss for too long, as she was able to spin away from Sora with a move that almost seemed like something out of a graceful dance, and after taking a moment to pause and catch her breath while staring down her opponent, Weiss was on the attack again, only this time, she had spun the revolver in her rapier around beforehand so that it would release a blast of fire dust whether she struck her target or not.

Whether Sora saw that coming or not, no one was sure, but they had to assume he had not since he was left very surprised when his next attempt at dodging almost set one of his pants legs on fire. Weiss did not let up in her elemental assault though, as another swing of her blade sent a series of ice spikes directly at Sora, and likely would have impaled him, or at least left him really scratched up and frozen stiff had he not jumped over the icy attack with an extra assist of Flowmotion and wind magic. Using the extra energy his Flowmotion powers provided, Sora swung his Keyblade down as hard as he could upon his descent, creating a powerful shockwave that knocked Weiss off-balance for a moment, giving him the chance to charge the girl and attempt another series of powerful sword strikes. Somehow though, Weiss managed to avoid and even counter a lot of Sora's attacks. When Weiss began to counterattack in full, it started to become a little more clear that Sora was actually having some trouble blocking a few of the girl's strikes.

"Uh Sora? Are you holding back or something, or are you just having an off day," Lea finally questioned from where he was sitting.

"Axel, you know Sora never holds back in a fight, even if it's against his friends," Roxas admonished. He then thought back to a few moments in the past that contradicted his statement, including this one, and quietly corrected himself. "Well…not to a great extent, at least, and not when he knows that he need to in order to keep a few things on the down-low."

While the other two started to debate and recall times that Sora may or may not have held back in a fight, no matter the opponent, Ventus was taking the time to better analyze the fight so that he could try to figure out why Sora seemed to be having so much trouble. Weiss did not seem any different from anyone that Sora had fought before, as far as the blonde could recall both from what he had seen Sora do in the past and from what he had read about in his copy of Jiminy's journal, but after a moment or two, he started to see one thing that did stand out more than anything else. It was also a factor that would actually prove to make Weiss a tough opponent to handle for many people in general, really, but it was still a little surprising for Ventus all the same.

"She's left-handed," Ventus finally announced, getting looks from his teammates, Ruby, and Yang. "Have any of you guys ever noticed that about Weiss? Whenever she fights, she always wields her sword in her left hand, and never her right. Since Sora is used to fighting against people who are also right-handed like him, Weiss has put him at a disadvantage simply because of her dexterity. That holds true for a lot of people, really, and that's why people who are left-handed also excel in various different sports."

"Wow, really? Hm," Ruby hummed in thought. She was left-handed as well, but over the course of training with her uncle, she had become ambidextrous to the point where she used her right hand like it was her dominant hand just as much as her left. It was definitely something that she would be keeping in mind for the future just in case.

Back in the arena, Sora had caught onto the fact that Weiss was left-handed as well, and while he was a little more concerned over how this was the first time he had ever faced such an opponent, he was also a little excited. This would be a big help for improving his fighting style, as it would help him to start thinking a little more creatively on how to best defeat Weiss, despite their different dexterities. Thankfully, Sora was not without options, as he proved as he once again fired off a blast of magic, this time in the form of ice magic. Weiss was able to deflect Sora's attack with a blast of fire from her rapier, but Sora had not been aiming for his attack to hit Weiss. He just needed the spell to form the icy path that had been created along the ground, which he had now hopped onto and used to slide in closer at high-speeds through the use of Flowmotion. Since Weiss was not expecting such an attack, she just barely managed to summon a glyph in order to defend herself, but she did manage it in the end, and like the Boarbatusk that she fought in Port's class the other day, Sora ended up bouncing off the glyph and sent flying across the arena. Unlike the Boarbatusk though, Sora managed to recover in midair just enough so that he landed on his feet, ready to defend against Weiss's next round of attacks, which seemed to come much more quickly now that Weiss was using her glyphs to boost her speed and attacks. Under the heiress's high-speed assault, Sora could barely keep his guard up to the point where he was able to successfully block all of her attacks, but he did still manage to deflect the last thrust Weiss had launched at him after bouncing off one last glyph.

Having been thrown off balance once again by the boy, Weiss struggled a little in order to get back on her feet once she had landed on the ground again. Not that it bothered her too much, as she was actually pretty glad that Sora still had some fight left in him, even if he was panting a little bit now. True, Weiss was also a little short of breath at the moment, but that just made this all the more exciting for her, and the smirk on her face proved it to Sora and everyone else watching. It was almost scary how much Weiss had been smiling in this fight for some of them, but some people would argue that it was actually nice to see this side of her.

Sora may have been one of those people, but he was not about to let Weiss win just because he was happy to see she was enjoying herself. In fact, he still had one trick up his sleeve that he was sure would help him pull out a win in this fight, and glancing at the readout of his Aura level on his Scroll, and the level of Weiss's Aura level that was being displayed on the screen above the arena, Sora could tell that if he was going to make a winning move, it would have to be now or never. Now don't misunderstand, Team SLVR had not had their Auras fully unlocked like the rest of the students, but they had discovered that for the sake of blending in on this world, their unique magic powers had allowed their Auras to be unlocked to the extent that was necessary for duels such as the one Sora was currently in, and for the sake of giving them extra protection whether they needed it or not.

Once he had finished his brief check on their respective Auras, Sora smirked at Weiss and said, "I have to admit, you're really giving me a good fight, Weiss, but I think it's high time I finished this."

"You're more than welcome to try," Weiss challenged. She too had seen what the score currently was between them, and she was confident that she would be able to best anything Sora could throw at her and secure her victory at this point. Too bad for Weiss, she had made a serious mistake that many other people had made in the past: she underestimated just what Sora was capable of.

Hearing Weiss's challenged, Sora was more than ready to rise up to it, and with a quick flourish, he left everyone in awe as his Keyblade transformed from his basic Kingdom Key into the light-blue and white, winter themed designs of one of his newest Keychains: Crystal Snow, a series of snowflake-like sparkles falling from around the blade as it appeared. Even Weiss was left in awe of this new Keyblade's appearance, from its coloring, to the fact that its design seemed to be based off of what looked to be an ice palace of some kind, with snowflakes all across the blade, while an especially large one made up the teeth. Of course, the transformations did not end there, as Sora soon proved with a wide grin.

"Let's go Blizzard Claws," Sora shouted while aiming his Keyblade high over his head, and a second later, Weiss had to shield her face with her free arm, as a flurry of snow and ice seemed to materialize around Sora as his Keyblade changed. When the flurry finally dispersed, Weiss was surprised to see that Sora's Keyblade had changed into a pair of large claws that appeared to be made of the same icy structure that Crystal Snow was, and not only that, but he was now rushing towards her with a speed that he did not possess before.

Seeing this oncoming attack, Weiss attempted to form an ice wall with her rapier, but Sora easily smashed through it with a simple swing of one of his new icicle claws, and was soon dealing even more swings of those claws at a very rapid pace. In point of fact, Sora's rapid swipes were coming so fast, that Weiss barely had time to try and form any glyphs now, be it for defense or as a way of helping her to avoid Sora's attacks in one manner or another. Before long, Sora's claws had grown quite a bit in size, and began rotating really fast as he launched them at her. Luckily Weiss was able to use a glyph that would help her to avoid the worst of that attack, but she was not quite fast enough to strike back before Sora had transformed his weapon for a second time.

"Here we go, Blizzard Blades," Sora cried out as he spun around, his claws splitting apart slightly before they ultimately reformed into a set of blades that extended out from his wrists, while another pair formed onto his feet like extra sharp ice skates. The description of the latter may not have been too far off, as Sora was soon skating around the arena at a speed that was too fast for Weiss to follow, and his attacks were just as fast as they were sharp, and from what she could tell, every attack that Sora unleashed now came with an extra chill, as they seemed to summon ice with every swing of those four blades he now had. When Sora finally let up in her assault, Weiss thought she might have finally gained a chance to turn things back in her favor, but that was another mistake on her part, as Sora was just gearing up for his final attack.

Stomping one of his ice-blade-encased feet on the ground, Sora created a large, snowflake-shaped patch of ice that began building up a tall ice structure. As the structure began to form, leaving everyone cooing in awe of its beauty, Sora started dancing his way up the forming ice crystals, until he was at the top of the fully formed structure, which many thought looked a lot like a large, ice chandelier. When he reached his destination, Sora swiped one of his blades at the top of the chandelier, and everyone could only watch as it dropped down and collapsed on the ground, though Weiss did so with a very worried look on her face. When the icy structure finally hit, a massive torrent of ice and snow was released as it collapsed against the ground, encompassing everything in the arena until nothing could be seen but a cloud of cold air. When the fog finally lifted, Weiss could be seen barely holding herself up, while Sora stood tall, his Keyblade back to normal once again, serving as more proof of the victor of the fight than the buzzer did.

"A very impressive display, Mister Hikari," Goodwitch admitted. That did not stop her from dolling out some form of instruction for both him and Weiss though. "Though perhaps you should improve for any future fights you have against an opponent like Miss Schnee. Speaking of which, while your resolve against a more powerful opponent was admirable, Miss Schnee, it would do you a great deal of benefit to avoid antagonizing such an opponent before you have finished the fight."

"Yes Professor," Weiss nodded in understanding, able to acknowledge that she had in fact messed up at the end there.

The bell to signal the end of class rang almost right after that, and the students were all soon making their way out, each talking animatedly about the match they had just witnessed. Sure, there was a good deal about how Weiss did, but most of it seemed to focus on Sora's end of the fight. Not that Weiss could blame them, since Team SLVR was a much bigger mystery at the school, but it did still sting a little that she had lost so soundly. That sting lessened a little after Sora approached her and said, "Hey, sorry about what happened at the end there. I guess I got a little too carried away and overdid it."

"You shouldn't apologize. I'm the one who asked you to not hold back in the match, and you agreed. I would say that this made for quite the learning experience for both of us," Weiss reassured him with a smile. That smile grew into a smirk soon after as she added, "Just know that I will not allow you to win so easily the next time we have a match."

Sora just smirked in return before holding his hand out to Weiss in offering for a handshake, and said, "Looking forward to that, Weiss."

Weiss gladly accepted the handshake with a smile of her own, and she was left a little surprised at how she was now even more excited for any possible rematch the two of them could have in the future than she had been about the spar that they just finished. She was not sure if it was something about Sora's eagerness for the same thing rubbing off on her or not, but in all honesty, she really did not care. Facing off against a challenging opponent like that had been really fun for her, and after looking over to the rest of Sora's teammates, Weiss had to wonder if they were just as good as their leader. Of course, one could point out that her gaze had lingered on Sora's blonde partner more than the others, but Weiss would be quick to insist that they had merely been seeing things.

* * *

"So, there we were, in the middle of the night…," Nora creepily said to the gathered group of twelve.

"It was day," Ren corrected like clockwork, despite the fact that he knew Nora would continue like he had not spoken. This was a pattern that they held for every story that Nora told for the longest time, and it was going to remain the same with this one.

"We were surrounded by Ursai…"

"They were Beowolves."

"DOZENS OF THEM!"

"Two of 'em."

"But they were no match, and in the end, Ren and I took them down, and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs."

"Wait, how would that even be possible? Don't all Grimm just disintegrate into ash or something after they're killed," Ventus questioned, being the first out of the rest of the gang to get a word in since Nora was asked to tell this story.

The blonde's question went unanswered, as Ren just simply sighed and explained, "She's been having this reoccurring dream for nearly a month now."

Everyone who had actually been paying attention could only nod in sympathy with Ren's plight, while most of the rest only did so to show that they had been paying at least a little bit of attention to the conversation. It did make for quite the interesting lunch gathering after all, but then again, it was like that for every other lunch period that Teams RWBY, JNPR, and SLVR had shared, which was nearly all of them. While Nora told over exaggerated stories that Ren corrected, the others either listened in on the ginger haired girl's extravagant tale as they ate, or found other things to do while paying the smallest amount of attention to the story, if any at all. Take today for instance; Blake was deeply engrossed in one of her almost omnipresent books while another with her notes rested beneath her hand, Ventus was reviewing his own notes for a couple of classes with Roxas, Lea and Yang were both listening to Nora's story, and Weiss was currently filing her nails a little while studying a video of her match with Sora, which Ventus had provided for her after she learned he had recorded the whole thing.

The only things that were out of the ordinary for them at the moment, were the three team leaders and Pyrrha, as Jaune merely picked at his food with a fork, while Ruby, Sora, and Pyrrha all looked at him with varying degrees of worry on their faces. You could not really blame any of the three for worrying about Jaune, as despite the excitement of Sora's match with Weiss, Jaune was still looking really down about how his own match that day had gone. The fact that his match was against Cardin was not really helping matters either, as everyone on all three teams had taken notice of how the bigger, more armored boy had been bullying Jaune ever since the school year had started. Having your one chance to fight back against someone pushing you around like that basically thrown in your face would leave anyone in a pretty sad mood, and needless to say, Jaune's partner and friends were really starting to worry about him.

"Jaune, are you okay," Pyrrha finally asked.

"Huh," Jaune asked, having been too caught up in his dismay to realize that someone had spoken to him right away. When he looked to see the concerned faces that three of his friends were giving him, he quickly dropped his fork so that he could try to put up a more positive front and replied, "Oh, yeah! Why?"

"It's just that you seem a little…not okay," Ruby worriedly answered. She had been so put-off by Jaune's current demeanor that she had hardly even touched the plate of cookies she had gotten earlier, and anyone who knew Ruby would be able to tell you just how big of an indicator that was to her concerns regarding anything in a given moment.

"Not to mention that you haven't really eaten all that much yet, or said anything since Combat Class," Sora pointed out, feeling that it would not hurt to be a little blunt on the matter.

Hearing the two speak up got the attention of everyone sitting at the table, but the concerned looks of his friends only seemed to make Jaune a bit more defensive. "Guys, I'm fine. Seriously, look," the young knight insisted before giving them a small smile and a nervous laugh.

It did not need to be said how believable Jaune's attempt at reassurance was, but Lea still said it anyway. "Yeah, dude, Roxas could've made a better fake smile than that in his major zombie days, and that's really saying something."

"Ugh, seriously? Are you ever going to just let the Zombie-boy thing die," Roxas grumbled to his friend.

"Not in this lifetime, buddy," Lea chuckled in return.

"Why do you call him that, anyway," Yang asked, having been curious about the matter for a while. When the others all turned to hear the redhead's answer, Jaune quietly breathed a sigh of relief for the fact that the attention was off of him for the moment, but Pyrrha still managed to take notice of the fact as she listened to this new tale.

"Haha! Oh boy, now that is a story," Lea chuckled, while Roxas merely groaned. "See, when me and Roxas first met way back, he couldn't remember anything about his past. Hell, he could barely remember much more than the necessities for basic human living and functioning. Hardly ever talked too, and spent most of his days either roaming around the place without any real direction or staring off into space with this blank look on his face. The few times he did talk back then, he only ever said like one or two words, and nothing else. Save for the fact that he didn't have a craving for brains or a need to start groaning and moaning as he walked, and you can see why everyone thought he was a total zombie. I mean, he's still kind of a zombie now, but…"

"Oh shut up," Roxas snapped as he swatted Lea's arm, even if it was with a grin.

"Hey, I have plenty of right to make fun of you after all that you put me through when our old boss first assigned me to be your mentor or whatever you want to call it," Lea teased in return as he slapped Roxas on the back, earning smiles from the rest of the group as they watched the display of closeness between the two best friends.

"Just what kind of job did you two do back then, anyway," Blake inquired, her curiosity about the four Keybearers' past showing itself a little.

All playfulness evaporated from both Lea and Roxas, right to a point that was almost concerning for the others, and the redhead simply replied, "I'd…really rather not talk about it. Neither of us would. It's not a time that…well, we're not exactly all that eager to relieve most parts about those glory days."

Roxas could only nod in silent agreement, and while the others all looked like they wanted to press a little more out of concern for the two, a quick look from either Ventus or Sora silenced those notions very easily. It made sense, given that Sora and Ven were the only two at the table who knew the full extent of the former Nobodies' past, or at least something close to it, but at the same time, it also made both teams of huntsmen-in-training grow a bit more curious about Team SLVR's past as well. This was especially true for Yang when she noticed how Lea's eyes seemed to water a bit like he was struggling to hold back some tears, a first for the fiery redhead in the time that Yang had known him, and looking at him, Yang could swear that there was something in his eyes that she had seen quite a bit in her mirror after a certain incident in her childhood that had nearly gotten her and Ruby killed.

Having noticed all of that, Yang was ready to ignore the warning looks from Lea's teammates and try to talk to him about the matter, when the sound of obnoxious laughter grabbed everyone's attention. Upon turning to the source, everyone at the table either frowned or glared at the sight of Cardin and his team picking on a Faunus student with long rabbit ears, while constantly cutting off her attempts to get away from the four bullies. Blake and Jaune's glares were easily two of the harshest, but even theirs compared little to the intensity behind the looks that Sora and Roxas were both throwing in Cardin's direction, specifically, and everyone could easily guess why. Sora had not made it a secret as to how little he liked bullies, and Roxas had made even less of an effort on hiding his own opinion about such individuals. The only difference between the two was that more often than not, Roxas ended up being the one that everyone felt the need to hold back, especially since Sora always somehow managed to step between the blonde and his target whenever they spotted Cardin making trouble for other students. Even so, they could tell that it was a bit of a struggle for Sora to do so from time to time.

Seeing the way Cardin and his friends were acting to their most recent target, along with the way that Jaune was glaring at the leader of Team CRDL (Cardinal), was what helped Pyrrha get back to the matter that they had been discussing before the brief interruption for Lea's story. "Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school," the redhead bluntly stated, hoping that would get Jaune to open up about his problems a little. She was wrong.

"Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah…He just likes to mess around, you know? Practical jokes," Jaune tried to play off, even if he knew that none of his friends would buy it.

"He's a bully," Ruby, Sora, and Roxas all corrected as one, the girl of the three scowling at the fact, while the two boys had the added edge of a growl to their voices with their scowls.

"Oh please. Name one time he's 'bullied' me," Jaune challenged.

"We'll do you four times better," Roxas accepted, raising a finger up as he and his friends listed off the aforementioned times. "The morning of initiation, he tripped you and made you spill your food all over yourself…"

"Which I'm guessing was how that smudge got onto the paper you wrote your locker number down on," Lea reasoned out.

"He knocked your books out of your hands when you passed by him in the hall once," Sora continued on.

"He activated your shield as you were going into the classroom so that you would get stuck in the door," Roxas listed off, now having three fingers raised, and ready to bring up the fourth one with the last thing, provided by his blonde look-a-like.

"And I doubt anyone is going to forget how he not only shoved you into your rocket-propelled weapon locker, but also _launched_ said locker while you were still in it," Ventus finished.

Everyone was silent upon hearing the completion of said list, though the ones who were somehow only just now hearing about the last one looked at Jaune with a great deal of worry. Even Weiss was frowning in concern for him, and she had not really been too eager to give Jaune the time of day after her first impression of the boy, but despite all of this concern being directed at him, Jaune did not seem to really register how worried he was really making his friends by continuing to act like it was nothing. "I didn't land far from the school," Jaune tried to insist.

"No, just far enough for you to be half an hour late for Professor Oobleck's class," Ventus recalled.

"That explains so much," Weiss muttered, recalling how out of breath and disheveled Jaune looked when he finally made it, and how he smelled like the fumes that came from the rockets on their lockers.

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help you can just ask," Pyrrha tried to reassure her partner.

"OOH! We'll break his legs," Nora eagerly suggested, her smile a disturbing mix of sinister and excited when she did.

It was a look that the Keybearers had all seen before on one of their own, and they were about to see it again when Lea offered up his own suggestion. "And while we're at it, how about we also burn 'em off?!"

"YEAH!"

"No," Sora shot down not even a second after Nora had agreed, though the reproachful look he threw out at the two was mostly directed to his own teammate. "Lea, we've told you already, you _can't_ burn Cardin or any other student just because you don't like 'em."

"Oh come on! I get Ice Princess…"

"Wait, what," Weiss asked, suddenly feeling a little nervous. She was only able to remain that calm because of Ventus putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"…But you can at least let me burn Cardin! I mean, he deserves it way more," Lea complained to his leader.

"Doesn't matter if he deserves it or not. If we sink to his level, then we'd be no better than him," Sora insisted.

"Please?! Just a little bit," Lea pleaded.

"No."

"Not even the lightest of burns?"

"No."

"What if I make it look like an accident?"

"Yeah, right. Like you could actually control yourself to that extent," Roxas scoffed in disbelief. That soon wavered though when he asked, "Can you?"

"Yeah."

"The answer is no," Sora snapped at the redhead. "He's not worth it."

"Sora's right, you guys. It's fine, really," Jaune added in, hoping that his two cents would keep this from getting too out of hand, even as Lea pouted over the denial of his offered revenge tactic. "Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."

"That doesn't make it better," Roxas argued.

"Ooww, that hurts," someone suddenly shouted, prompting everyone to turn to where Cardin's team was at once again. Almost as though the universe was proving both Roxas and Jaune's points, the team saw that Cardin was now pulling on the ears of the rabbit Faunus he and his friends were cornering, while she attempted to get away to no avail, much to his teammates' amusement. "Please, stop," the girl pleaded.

Cardin just ignored her, and looked to his friends as he said, "I told you it was real!"

"What a freak," his teammate, Russel mocked as he and the others continued to laugh.

As he watched the bullies continue picking on the girl, Sora could feel his scowl growing with every second, and was soon repeating a mantra in his head just to keep calm. _'They're not worth it. They're not worth it.'_

The three teams continued watching as the girl finally managed to pull away, only to end up having Cardin's other teammate, Dove pull her back by her lunch tray. "Hey, how big a family do you have anyway," Dove inquired.

"It's probably massive enough to the point where the neighbors are always calling someone about a rodent infestation" Sky, the last member of Team CRDL remarked with a mocking grin.

_'Be the better man. Be the better man,'_ Roxas thought to himself in his own attempt to keep calm.

When the girl finally pulled away again, she failed to realize that Cardin had made his way around her and stuck his leg out, until after she had tripped over said leg and fell to the floor, her tray of food splattering everywhere and making her landing much messier. When she sat up again, it looked like she was on the verge of tears, and all Team CRDL could do was continue laughing. That proved to be a mistake, as they had unknowingly just set off a pair of beasts within Team SLVR.

"Screw it! I can't just sit here anymore," Roxas finally snapped as he jumped up and started making his way over.

"Who's making you," Sora rhetorically asked, having now decided that Cardin and his gang were most definitely worth it.

The rest of Team SLVR and Teams JNPR and RWBY could only watch after the two boys as they moved in to retaliate against the bullies, with only Ventus being able to comment on the matter. "Suddenly, I don't know whether to finally sorry for those guys or to be worried about them."

"I'd go with neither. Like I said, they've got this coming," Lea replied, his grin now back on his face again.

Back with Cardin, he was about to move in and torture the poor girl some more, when he was suddenly pushed back towards his friends. Looking to who had gotten in his way, he was met with the sight of Roxas standing between him and the girl, glaring at him the whole time, while Sora attended to the girl in question as he threw his own hateful look at the bullies. "I'm only going to say this once: leave her alone," Roxas growled.

"Oh yeah? And what're you gonna do if we don't," Dove challenged.

Roxas would have answered, had Sky not realized who they were talking to first. "Hold on, isn't he one of those weirdoes with the key-shaped swords?"

"Yeah, Team SLVR," Russel recalled with a mocking grin. "Although, they should've called you Team Stupid, since you all got the stupidest weapons ever."

"They may not look like much, but we'd still take the Keyblades over the pieces of junk I've seen you guys use any day of the week," Roxas shot back.

"You want to run that by me again, punk," Russel challenged.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, for my friend. That was mean of him," Sora apologized with a smile, sounding surprisingly sincere as he stood up to better address the four, once he assured the girl he would just be a moment. His reason for doing so was revealed when he added, "He should have used smaller words or at least put it in a way that you guys could understand. Let me try and translate." He then cleared his throat and started talking in a manner similar to his old friend, Tarzan. "Keyblades good, very good. Stupid sticks you use bad. You dumb."

While Sora and Roxas's friends all either grinned, made some feeble attempt to suppress their laughter, or just outright laughed without a care along with all the other students that were observing the confrontation, Cardin and his team just got angrier, until Cardin got almost right up in Sora's face. "Are you making fun of us," he demanded.

Sora did not answer, but instead looked at Cardin in amazement as he gasped, "Oh wow! A bully who's so stupid he doesn't even realize when someone's giving him a taste of his own medicine! Roxas, have you ever seen something like that?"

"Hmm, no, I don't think so. I was actually about to ask you if you have," Roxas commented with a mocking grin of his own.

"Nope, this is a first for me, too," Sora replied, as he continued on with their joke, riling up Cardin even more. Seeing that, Sora switched back to his glare as he asked, "Doesn't feel so good to be on the other end, does it?"

"You know what else isn't going to feel good? Your faces after I've planted a fist into each of them," Cardin growled.

"Please. You'd be more likely to hurt yourself doing that. Honestly though, I'm surprised that you don't already hurt yourself on those subpar pieces of metal that you call armor," Roxas retorted. "Guess that would explain why you need your buddies to help you gang up on someone. You're too scared to try and pick on someone your own size by yourself."

"His own size? He seems like he's scared to fight someone that matches the size of his brain," Sora shot out. "Then again, I'm pretty sure everyone here is bigger than that. Actually makes you wonder how he ever got into this school in the first place."

Now Cardin was pissed. "You want to start something with me? Fine! I'll take you both on right here, right now!"

"I've got a better idea. Combat arena, after class. You and all of your teammates against the two of us," Roxas offered. When Team CRDL started to look like they were thinking he was trying to run away, Roxas informed them, "Unlike you losers, my friends and I aren't stupid enough to try and do something that would be likely to get us detention at best. Besides, we might as well make it at least a little closer to a fair fight for you."

"…You're on," Cardin growled, and with that, he shoved past both Roxas and Sora. Doing so proved to be a bad move, since both boys held their ground fast, and made Cardin stumble a little as a result, leading him to look even more stupid than he already did after the little show just now.

When the four bullies were finally gone, Sora returned his attention to Cardin's most recent victim, and began helping her to better clean up the recent mess. "Sorry you had to put up with that from those guys," Sora said to the rabbit Faunus. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yes. Thank you," the girl nervously replied as she finally gathered the last of her things. "You didn't have to do that."

"Someone had to, and we wanted to help," Roxas insisted with a friendly smile. "Besides, how many sensible people do you know of that actually like seeing someone getting bullied?"

The girl remained silent, but she did smile a little more after she heard that, prompting the two boys to grin a little more. "Anyways, I don't think we've really had the chance to introduce ourselves to you, yet. I'm Sora, and this is Roxas," the Islander of the two said.

"Of Team SLVR, right? You're kind of legends among a lot of the students along with Teams RWBY and JNPR," the rabbit-eared girl informed them, her small smile not wavering in the slightest. When she saw the surprised looks the boys gained upon hearing that, she started to get the sense that she made them feel a little awkward, and quickly said, "I'm Velvet, of Team CFVY (Coffee)."

"Nice to meet you, Velvet," Roxas greeted in return as Sora helped her up. He then thought for a minute and asked, "Would you mind if we walked with you to your dorm, just in case those guys try to make any more trouble for you?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to be any trouble, and besides, we do have another class after lunch…" Velvet tried to protest, but Sora was quick to wave that aside.

"Don't worry. It's no trouble at all. Besides, I doubt you'd really want to go to class covered in food like that," Sora reassured her.

With that said, Velvet could only nod in acceptance of the twos offer, and the three then departed the cafeteria for Team CFVY's dorm room. Watching the three go were some very astonished friends of the two boys, and all for varying different reasons. While Blake and Ren both had impressed smirks on their faces, and Weiss a curious, yet also approving look, the others were all just running the entire scenario through their minds, be it in an attempt to make sense of what had just happened, or because they just liked certain points of the confrontation more than others. Of course, in the case of Ventus and Lea, there was something else that had caught their attention.

"Who knew Sora could actually smack talk someone like that," Lea muttered to his friend.

"I know, right? Guess anything's possible once you've gotten someone pissed off enough," Ventus reasoned.

"Do you think they're going to be okay," Ruby asked, worried about her friends that were planning to take on a full team on their own.

"Who, Sora and Roxas, or those tools," Lea asked with a grin, knowing full well who Ruby was referring to.

"Still, getting all worked up like that over one Faunus girl," Weiss asked, sounding unusually cold, even for her.

"Would it be any different if she weren't a Faunus," Blake asked, her tone baring a few traces of anger when she spoke.

"Not to those two," Ventus stated. "Maybe you haven't noticed, but Sora and Roxas don't care about societal norms and standards. If they see someone in trouble, that's all they need to know to decide they should do something to help. I mean, all four of us are like that, but that's especially true in their case."

"How come," Yang asked.

"Have you met Sora? The guy values his friends and people close to him more than life itself, so it's only natural that he wouldn't like people that push others around," Lea pointed out. His face then grew a bit more serious and somber as he added, "Roxas on the other hand…let's just say that he's seen others deal with that type of thing and has even been on the receiving end of it himself, in a way, and he hates to see others going through it."

That made everyone curious as to what Roxas could have gone through, but from what they could tell, Lea was not going to say anymore on the matter. From the way he glared at them in a silent bid to not ask, they got the feeling that it was really more of a story that he felt Roxas had more of a right to tell than him, and it was not one that either one of them were all that fond of. Sensing just how heavy the air had become, Pyrrha attempted to avert it from Lea a little bit, by commenting, "I feel that Sora and Roxas may very well be justified, myself. Cardin's behavior just now was atrocious." She then glared down at her plate as she added, "I can't stand people like him."

"He's not the only one," Blake pointed out, her glare showing that she completely agreed with Pyrrha's opinion.

"It must be hard to be a Faunus," Yang sighed in sympathy, truly feeling sorry that there was not something else that they could do to try and help with that situation, not noticing how Blake secretly smiled a little bit upon hearing her.

Lea frowned a little upon hearing that as his mind went back to some of the first thoughts he had about the Faunus when he first learned of them once more. It was one thing to read and hear about how the Faunus were treated, but after seeing it displayed like it had been just now, Lea could not help but wonder if his earlier comparison between them and the Nobodies was really all that accurate. It certainly seemed that way at times, given the parallels he had seen thus far, but he did not recall anyone ever harassing Nobodies in the way that Velvet was being treated by Cardin and his gang just now. Not that it mattered either way, because in his eyes, there were enough similarities for him to really feel sorry for the Faunus. Of course, he did his best to hide his ill feelings by showcasing his usual smirk and asking, "So, how long do you think those guys will last against Sora and Roxas? I'm betting ten Lien that they don't even go for ten minutes, max."

"That's pretty generous. I was thinking more like seven," Ventus admitted.

"I'll take a piece of that action," Yang said with a grin. "I'd say they don't go for five minutes."

As the bets continued on around the table, Ruby could only look off to where Sora, Roxas, and Velvet had disappeared to in worry. After his earlier match with Weiss and all the stuff that happened in the Emerald Forest, Ruby knew she probably should not have too much to worry about when it came to Sora's fighting strength, but still, the guy was about to fight Cardin's entire team with only Roxas as his backup. It did not matter how strong Sora was, he was still the first friend Ruby had made at Beacon, so it was only natural that she would worry about him in her mind, despite having plenty of reasons not to worry. That concern for Sora ended up being replaced by another curious thought that formed in her head soon enough. _'Shouldn't I be concerned about Roxas, too? Why am I only this worried about Sora?'_

* * *

"I can't believe Professor Goodwitch actually approved of this," Weiss said a few hours later after classes were over. She and the others had now all gathered together in school's combat arena to watch Sora and Roxas's match against Team CRDL, and from the look of things, nearly the entire school had as well. Not that this was too different from usual, as more often than not, if the students all heard about a match taking place in the arena outside of combat class, they would likely try to find a way to come and watch, but when word got out as to the circumstances behind the face-off, a whole new buzz had quickly picked up. Of course, no matches could take place without prior approval from Glynda or Ozpin, but Weiss was sure that the deputy headmistress would have said no when she found out the reason why this was happening.

"Guess she's just as upset about the way Cardin's been treating other students as everyone else," Yang offered in reasoning.

"I don't know. I could've sworn that when Sora was making the request, I heard her grumbling something about being glad that they weren't, and I quote, 'going at it in the courtyard like a bunch of Neanderthals in a back alley brawl,'" Lea disputed.

"You know, that does make a lot more sense," Nora nodded with her usual smile.

Before the others could comment on Nora's words, the whole room suddenly became alive with even more energy than before, and they all quickly turned to see the reason why was because Sora and Roxas were making their entrance into the arena. The two did not seem to have been paying any attention to the surrounding crowd, despite all the cheers that were going up for them, especially among the Faunus students and anyone else that Cardin had been picking on, but instead, just kept their gazes straight ahead at both the arena, and the entrance that their opponents would be stepping through. Said opponents did not take long to enter, as the various amounts of jeering and booing proved when Cardin strode in, his mace hefted over one shoulder, with the rest of his team falling in behind him, each armed with their own weapons as well. To be honest though, the way that they were coming in made Cardin look like a back alley gang leader with a posse of mindless idiots that would do everything their leader said just because they could not think for themselves, but Sora and Roxas did not seem to care. They were too busy glaring at all four of the other boys as they waltzed in.

"Alright, settle down everyone," Goodwitch called out, hoping to retain some form of civilized manner in this whole affair. "Now, for those who are not already aware, this will be an exhibition match between Sora Hikari and Roxas Sheru of Team SLVR, and the entirety of Team CRDL. As with all of our matches, tournament style rules will be applied here, so the winner will be decided when the Aura level of all members on one team falls into the red." She then cast an uncertain glance at Roxas and Sora and asked, "Mister Hikari, are you and Mister Sheru certain that you do not wish to have the entirety of your team join you, or that you would rather only face two members of Team CRDL as opposed to all of them?"

"Positive, Professor," Sora answered. He then smirked a little as he added, "It's already a little unfair for Cardin and his friends as it is just to be facing the two of us. Adding in Axel and Ventus would just make it overkill."

"Actually, I think that would be if we just added Axel into this. Having Ventus and Axel both would be…what's worse than overkill? Super-overkill," Roxas asked.

When Sora just shrugged and began trying to come up with such a term as well, Cardin and his boys just grew a little angrier until the leader of the four snapped, "Just start this thing already so we can ground them into dust!"

Glynda shot a very irritated look at Cardin for his outburst, cowing the bully a little after she had, and then allowed a brief silence to rein over the arena before she stepped outside of the arena's boundaries and declared, "Very well then…BEGIN!"

At that signal, Sora and Roxas both summoned out their Keyblades, and while Roxas's were his usual pair of Oathkeeper and Oblivion, Sora's turned out to be one that neither Teams RWBY or JNPR had seen until now. Lea and Ventus on the other hand knew exactly what it was, and could not help but smirk a little more excitement. "Oh, this is gonna be a lot better than we thought," Lea chuckled eagerly. "Hey Nora, I think you're really gonna like this Keyblade."

"Really? Why," Nora asked.

"I think the better question is how he plans on doing anything with that Keyblade? It looks like a toy," Blake admitted.

"That would be the Favorite Deputy Keyblade," Ventus explained for everyone. "It's one of Sora's favorite Keychains aside from Kingdom Key, and despite how it looks, it does have a lot of power behind it. Especially when he uses its other forms."

"You mean this one has some unique transformations as well? Just how many different weapons can Sora turn his Keyblade into," Ren questioned, honestly surprised by how versatile Sora's Keyblade was turning out to be. It was certainly capable of far more different transformations than any weapon he had ever heard of, and the same went for everyone else as well.

"Uh…I'm not really sure, to be honest," Ventus shrugged.

"Never really thought to keep count, myself," Lea admitted. He then leaned back with his grin still present, resting his arms behind his head as he said, "Either way, this is gonna be really good…Anyone got popcorn?"

Back in the arena, Team CRDL was just as confused by the appearance of Sora's Keyblade, but instead of being worried, they were just amused. "What are you gonna do with that thing? Put us in time-out," Russel mocked.

"Oh, I'm gonna do a lot worse than that, and even then, I'll still be holding back as we beat you all into next week," Sora promised, making their laughter come to a brief halt. Seeing that he had the bullies' attention, he took that time to add, "You can still back out though and walk away, if you're willing to go and apologize to Velvet."

"As if, freak-lover. The only ones here that are going to be sorry are you," Cardin smirked, and with that, he led his team in an all-out charge.

While Team CRDL was charging, Roxas could not help but take his eyes off of them for a moment so he could give Sora a small look, to which Sora could only shrug and say, "Yeah, I know; I'm too nice for my good sometimes, but at least you can't say I didn't try."

"Fair enough," Roxas conceded as he prepared for action. A second later, Sora was rolling under a swing from Cardin's mace, before deflecting Dove's sword, while Roxas merely parried the blows that Russel and Sky were trying to land on him with their weapons. After locking Sky's halberd down with Oathkeeper and then locking Oblivion with one of Russel's daggers, Roxas looked over to Sora and asked, "So, do you want to just keep going with this set-up, or would you rather we mix-and-match here and there?"

"Eh, that depends. How many shots do you want to take at all of these guys, or at least Cardin," Sora asked, acting like he was not currently parrying away a deadly blade while avoiding a wildly swinging mace at the same time.

"I couldn't care less about the small fry so long as I get at least a few hits on their ring leader," Roxas admitted after he had pushed Russel away, and used the momentum to swing himself around for a kick into Sky, followed by a fast slash of Oathkeeper.

"Fair enough," Sora agreed, and with that, the boys quickly commenced with their beat down of the bullies.

Since it seemed to Team CRDL that the two were either ignoring them or treating them like they were not a threat, it came as no surprise that the bigger boys all got even more riled up and began to rush at the two Keybearers without any real plans in mind. That proved to be exactly what Sora and Roxas wanted: for Cardin and his boys to get mad and act rashly. Doing so caused Cardin's team to leave themselves open for more attacks, and unable to really form any kind of defense against the two when Sora and Roxas did strike back, because for the most part, the two were parrying, blocking, or avoiding Team CRDL's attacks, letting them expend their energy with as little movement as possible. Even then, it was clear to everyone that Sora and Roxas were still toying with their opponents.

Eventually, Roxas and Sora managed to whittle Team CRDL down quite a bit, to the point where only Cardin was really able to properly stand on his feet, but to be honest, they did not have to do too much, as Cardin's own attacks ended up helping Roxas and Sora. More than once, Cardin had swung his mace into a teammate as he was drawing it back for a strike, or in preparation for a charge, and caused his own teammates' Auras to drop even faster than anything that the two Keybearers were doing. Sora and Roxas were not complaining though, as that just meant they would be able to make their final move all the sooner, and make a move they did, starting when Roxas suddenly became encased in an aura of light. Afterwards, Roxas leapt up into the air and began slashing wildly at the four boys several times over, until he suddenly became nothing more than a beam of light that rocketed through all Team Cardinal.

When Roxas emerged from the light beam again, his stance indicated that he had just completed a powerful cross-slash, and it seemed to show when Cardin and his friends all stumbled a great deal in a manner that was common following the aftereffects of such an attack. Not that they were any safer, because now it was Sora's turn, and he quickly raised Favorite Deputy into the air so that he could allow it to transform. When the blade had completed its transformation, Cardin and his pals all paled at the sight of what it had become, while Nora was grinning like mad with stars in her eyes.

"He can turn his Keyblade into a ROCKET HAMMER," Nora screeched excitedly, forcing Ren to plug his ears in an attempt to retain his hearing. "WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THAT SOONER?!"

Sora just grinned after he heard that, having suspected that Nora would like the Hyper Hammer form of Favorite Deputy, but he did not let that distract him from what he was doing right now. A second later, Sora had blasted forward, and, using the rocket engine on the end of his hammer, managed to dial up a powerful swing that would have sent all of Team CRDL had they not moved at the last minute. It did little good, as the momentum of Sora's swing merely allowed him to commence with a powerful spin attack that managed to hit all four of the bullies with little trouble. Somehow, they still had some Aura left, but that was soon remedied when Sora raised the Hyper Hammer high, leapt up a little, and let its rockets make his next downward swing even stronger, right to the point where it created a bit of an earthquake while shattering part of the arena floor a little. The shockwave from Sora's attack ended up being the thing that finished Team CRDL, and once his Keyblade had returned to normal, Sora shouldered his weapon with a confident smirk, while Roxas came to stand next to him as he rested Oathkeeper on one shoulder while he let Oblivion hang by his side.

"And that is just a sample of our full strength," Sora boasted with pride, before narrowing his gaze a little on Cardin and his team. "As well as a warning for you to not mess with our friends, or anyone who's so much as met us again. Got it?"

If Cardin and his teammates were not scared before by what Sora had just done with his Keyblade, they certainly were now after hearing that, because all they could do was quietly nod in reply with frightened expressions on their faces. While she did not show any outward reaction to Sora's not-so-subtle warning, Goodwitch would admit that she was a little pleased to see him putting Team CRDL in their place, even if she did not approve of the methods used for doing so. "And that's the match," the professor decreed. "Now move it along, everyone. There's nothing more to see here."

Despite Goodwitch's words, the students still remained behind for a decent while so that they could at least offer up a brief applause for Sora and Roxas, but only Teams RWBY, JNPR, and the rest of Team SLVR made any motion to offer personal congratulations to the two. "Aw yeah! Hail the conquering Keyblade Heroes," Yang cheered as she playfully punched the two in the arm, while Lea was patting them on the back.

"Hey, whoa! Sora's the one everyone calls the Hero of the Keyblade. I'm the Key of Destiny," Roxas corrected with a playful smirk.

"Do all four of you have some fancy title," Blake asked, remembering when Roxas referred to Lea's old one back when they first met.

"No, just those three," Ventus grumbled as he crossed his arms in a huff. "They keep saying they'll come up with something for me, but I haven't heard so much as one suggestion."

"If it makes you feel any better, we're still brainstorming on ideas for Xion, too," Lea informed his old friend.

"Wait, hold on a minute. Roxas, what was that move you used at the end there," Jaune asked, wanting to know if it was something he could learn in time.

"Uh…It was…part of my Semblance," Roxas stuttered, having nearly forgotten about the excuse for his light powers in all the excitement. "I can basically manipulate light energy for a variety of purposes, kinda like how Axel does with fire, or Ven with wind."

"So what's Sora's Semblance? Does it have anything to do with how he can make his weapon so versatile," Ruby asked.

"No, that's all in his Keyblade. As for his Semblance, it's basically just energy manipulation. So, it's like mine, but he's not limited to just light-based stuff," Roxas explained. "I'd let Sora tell you guys more, but…I think he's going to be busy for a while."

Looking over to Sora, everyone could only cringe at the sight of him getting hounded by Nora as she bombarded him with questions about his Favorite Deputy Keyblade, if he had any other Keyblades that could turn into hammers like it, and if he could let her try it out just to compare it to hers. That last one was the one that Sora was getting more than any other, despite the fact that he kept telling Nora that it was impossible since she did not have a Keyblade, and his Keyblade only worked for him, but in all her excitement, it did not seem like Nora was really paying attention. It was a sight that left them feeling sorry for Sora, but also amused at the whole thing, right to the point that none of them noticed how Cardin was glaring at the twelve of them, but especially in the case of Sora and Roxas. "Those little freaks are gonna pay for this," Cardin promised under his breath before he left in a huff.

* * *

The next few days that followed after the beat down of Team CRDL, everyone would have liked to have said that Cardin had stopped messing with other students, but sadly, that was not entirely true. In reality, Cardin only made sure to be on his best behavior whenever he knew that Sora, Roxas, or both were around, and if they showed up while he was about to start something, he quickly tried to find a way to play it off as just some simple joke or "act of kindness." It was pretty safe to say that Cardin and his boys were all very much afraid of the two Keyblade wielders that had beaten them so soundly, especially once they realized that they had done so in less than four minutes (A fact that Yang found especially enjoyable since it won her the bet with Lea and Ventus). Unfortunately, the two could not be everywhere, and wherever they were not ended up being some place that Team CRDL would be starting up again.

Luckily for many people, the other two members of Team SLVR were keeping just as close of an eye on the bullies as their teammates, and they made it a point to make sure that Cardin knew that. Ventus was able to take a little bit of advantage from the fact that many people were still confusing him and Roxas for each other by scaring the daylights out of Cardin whenever he and his team were starting something while he was around, and even after CRDL realized that he was not Roxas, Ventus still made it clear to them that it was just as bad of an idea to mess with him as it was the other blonde. Lea on the other hand was not so subtle. Sure, he could not actually burn the bullies, but that did not mean he could not still use his fire powers to freak them out, as evidenced when a few freak fires seemed to suddenly start up whenever Cardin or his teammates were doing something while he was in the area. The really amazing thing was that Lea never seemed to get caught by any of the staff, but even so, Cardin knew that Lea was behind the acts, partially because Lea would always being glaring at him afterwards while throwing him the "I'm watching you" gesture. Sadly, like Sora and Roxas, the other half of Team SLVR could not be everywhere either, but they still somehow managed to make up for it in some small way.

Not all of Lea's tactics involved the use of his fire powers though, as he eventually managed to prove in the class he shared with both Jaune and Cardin: Remnant History with Doctor Oobleck. Normally, Lea would not really care all that much about a history lesson, and he probably would have just used this class as a chance to catch up on his sleep, but he was staying wide awake for three reasons. The first, and one of the most obvious reasons was the fact that he seemed to be the only member of Team SLVR who had this class, so he needed to stay awake if he wanted to get any notes at all. The second reason was because Cardin and Jaune were both in this class, so he needed to keep an eye on the bully to make sure he did not try anything on the young Arc. Finally, the way that Oobleck taught, spoke, and even moved was so hyperactive and fast, that he would have had difficulty falling asleep even if he wanted to.

"Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War, humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie," Oobleck rapidly stated as he darted about the room at high speed, only pausing to take a sip from his coffee cup, while the students all darted their gazes back and forth in an attempt to keep up with both him and their notes. "Now, while this must seem like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!"

_'Jeez, how much coffee has the guy been drinking? Not just today, but over the course of his life, because I'm thinking it's a little too much,"_ Lea thought to himself while writing down the information as fast as he could. His efforts were already starting to give him a few cramps in his wrist, much to his irritation.

"Now, have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage," Oobleck then asked. Quite a few students raised their hands in response, among which one could easily spot Velvet, making Lea's eyes narrow in response as he drew up a few conclusions as to who could be responsible for the rabbit girl's problems, while Oobleck just shook his head in disappointment. "Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence. I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to the White Fang."

"Hear, hear, Professor," Lea cheered, unable to contain himself.

"That's Doctor, Mister Firebrand, and while I appreciate your enthusiasm, please try to control yourself while in class," Oobleck admonished. Lea just shrugged in response, his smile unapologetic, and allowed the doctor to continue with the lecture. "Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?" A hand shot up almost as fast as Oobleck's speech and movement speeds, and the doctor was just as quick to call on the heiress it belonged to.

"The battle at Fort Castle," Weiss answered in confidence.

"Precisely," Oobleck confirmed. "And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

Before anyone could raise a hand, Jaune was suddenly startled awake from his own nap, due to something hitting him in the back of his head. Since he was sitting right next to Jaune, Lea was able to realize all of that, and would have spun around to glare at the person he knew was most likely responsible, had Oobleck not mistaken Jaune's outburst as a sign that he wanted to answer. "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent," Oobleck cheered. "What is the answer?"

Jaune was now stuck, since his nap had prevented him from hearing the question, let alone any other part of this lecture, and was already stumbling to try and answer. Thankfully, he was provided with a quick save from the redhead next to him. "Sorry about that, Doc, but Jaune was actually talking to me," Lea apologized, directing Oobleck's gaze onto him, and not in a friendly way. "He's been having some trouble keeping up with his notes since class started, and had asked me if I could help him out so that he would be able to better study up. He was trying to double check to make sure that I had managed to keep up so far, but I wasn't really paying too much attention to him."

"Ah, I see. Very kind of you to aid a fellow student, Mr. Firebrand. My apologies, Mr. Arc," Oobleck nodded in understanding, drawing a quiet sigh of relief from Jaune. "That said, since you seem so apt at taking notes today, Mr. Firebrand, perhaps you would like to answer in your friend's place."

"Yeah, I probably could, but I'm afraid that your question's a little vague," Lea shrugged.

"How so?"

"Well, from what I've gathered, there could be any number of advantages that the Faunus would have had over General Lagune's forces. It could've been that they simply outnumbered him, the fact that the Faunus were in a fort, the fact that the Faunus were better rested than the general's forces, or even simply the fact that many Faunus have better senses than humans, be it under certain conditions or in general," Lea reasoned out, almost sounding like an actual scholar, as opposed to his usual self.

"Hm, a very astute observation, Mr. Firebrand," Oobleck applauded before taking another sip from his coffee cup. "However, many would argue that there is one particular factor that provided the Faunus their victory. Cardin, perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject."

While Cardin was upset that his attempts at embarrassing Jaune had backfired, he was not about to pass up this opportunity, since he was not likely to land into trouble with the Keyblade wielder right now. "Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier."

His response drew a disappointed, and rather upset shake of the head from Oobleck, while Pyrrha gave a more verbal response to Cardin's mocking. Lea was not the only one who had figured out why Jaune had nearly been embarrassed in front of the class. "You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin," the invincible girl noted with a glare.

"I think it'd be easier to say he's not the brightest, considering that even animals know better than to antagonize their predators," Lea pointed out while turning back to throw a warning glare at Cardin.

"What? You and your brother got a problem," Cardin demanded of Pyrrha, while avoiding Lea's gaze as much as he could. After all the fires that had happened around him, he was sure that the redhead of Team SLVR could cause them to happen with just a glance.

"First off, he's not my brother, and second, no, I have the answer, and in a way, Lea did as well with his answer," Pyrrha replied, turning to face the front again so that she could prove her point. "It's night vision. As Lea, pointed out, many Faunus are known to have better senses than humans, and just as many are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark."

Cardin just growled in response to that, prompting Blake to add on to Pyrrha's answer with her own input. "General Lagune was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured," Blake recounted in better detail. She then threw a taunting smile of her own at Cardin as she finished, "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."

Nearly the entire class let out a long "oo" in response to Blake's burn, while Cardin merely growled again and stood to try and retaliate. Thankfully, he never got too far thanks to the teacher. "Mr. Winchester! Please, take your seat. You can see me after class for additional readings," Oobleck tiredly demanded. "Now, moving on!"

As Oobleck continued with his lecture, Jaune took a chance to lean closer to Lea and whisper, "Hey, thanks for a minute ago."

"No worries. And just so you know, I really will let you copy my notes, if you want. I know you've been struggling in this class since we started in it," Lea offered in return.

"Yeah, I'd appreciate that," Jaune agreed, a little surprised by Lea's willingness to continue helping him. He made a note to ask about his reasons later on, because he did not want to risk getting caught sleeping again for the rest of the period.

The young knight never got the chance to talk to Lea after class, because the redhead seemed to just disappear as soon as Oobleck dismissed everyone for the day, so instead, Jaune ended up wandering around the school, trying to piece together just what he was really doing here. He wanted to be here, to be a huntsman like everyone else, but there was still a huge shadow looming over him in regards to how he had gotten into Beacon in the first place. Add in how much Cardin's bullying really had been bothering him, along with all the cool, incredible things he had seen the other students do, be they his friends, or even just some random person who happened to be in the same class, and Jaune had to wonder if he really did belong at Beacon like the rest of these guys. Several of the teachers had mentioned time and again that everyone had gotten into Beacon because they proved that they were among the best, but every time that he heard that, Jaune was only reminded of the circumstances surrounding his entrance to the school, and how he only realized just how little he actually knew about being a huntsman after he had arrived.

Jaune was so lost in his musings and self-doubt that he barely managed to take that much notice of where he was going until the cool, night air suddenly hit his face, and upon looking up, he soon realized that he was up on an area of the dorm rooftop, with a very impressive view of the school's main building, the shattered moon, and the starlit sky. It was an impressive sight to behold, and made him think of the kind of place that you would often hear about couples or lovers spending time at in stories, but what really caught his attention was the blonde who was already there, sitting down with his legs dangling over the ledge as he gazed up at the night sky. He knew from the spiky hair that it was one of the blondes of Team SLVR, but it was not until he got a little closer that he realized which one it was. He was still trying to pick up on all the differences between the two boys like everyone else, after all.

"Roxas," Jaune called out, getting the dual Keyblade wielder's attention. "What're you doing up here?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing really. I was just hanging out and enjoying the view. Axel was here a little while ago too, but decided to head back to our room so he could do something. I only stuck around because I wanted to watch the rest of the sunset, but I guess seeing the night sky convinced me to stay for a little longer than I meant," Roxas explained with a shrug. The two just remained where they were in silence after that, until Roxas finally asked, "What about you? What brings you up here?"

"Oh, you know. Just…got a lot on my mind," Jaune hesitantly replied before he came to sit down next to Roxas, not really feeling like standing after all his mindless wandering.

"Things like Cardin," Roxas guessed. When Jaune said nothing in reply, the former Number XIII had to smirk as he said, "You know, if you just asked, I'm pretty sure that Nora really will break his legs, and that Pyrrha might help. Plus, there's always what me and Sora could do to him, so…"

"I appreciate that, Roxas, but I really don't want my friends fighting my battles for me all the time," Jaune cut him off, surprising Roxas a bit with how harsh he sounded. Apparently, Jaune had not realized it either until after he spoke, because he quickly calmed down again, and apologized for his tone. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap, but…Well, there's a lot more going on than just how hard a time I'm having with Cardin. Besides, if I just ignore him, he's gotta leave me alone eventually, right? That's the mature thing to do, after all."

"Sure, that could work, but sometimes, bullies never learn until you stand up to them, and despite how your last match against Cardin went, you're still just as much of a huntsman-in-training as he is," Roxas disputed, not knowing that his encouraging words were having the opposite effect on Jaune at the moment. He continued on with his encouragement, still not realizing how the other blonde's mood was steadily dropping, by adding, "Sure, you may not be as good as everyone else, but the fact that you're here does prove that you've got what it takes."

"You're wrong…I-I don't belong here," Jaune finally sighed in defeat.

"Come on, man. You've just had a few bad days. That doesn't mean that you don't deserve your place at this school," Roxas disputed, thinking that Jaune was just letting his recent bad luck affect his judgment.

"I'm serious. I really don't belong here," Jaune heatedly insisted, surprising Roxas yet again. When he saw the questioning look on Roxas's face, Jaune knew he was going to have to explain himself, and after all the time he had spent around the members of Team SLVR, Jaune figured that there were not many better people to come clean with about this aside from Pyrrha. "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon."

"Um…I don't think I follow, because…if you weren't accepted into the school, then wouldn't it be a little hard for us to be sitting here right now having this conversation, or even strange that you're wearing the school uniform," Roxas tried to joke, but it came off as weak despite his best efforts.

Jaune still appreciated the attempt, but it did not change his situation. "What I mean is that I didn't go to Combat School. I didn't pass any tests. I didn't earn my place at this academy! I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts and I lied."

"What? But how…why," Roxas stuttered, hardly able to believe that Jaune had done something like that. Sure, his skills in a fight and basic knowledge of anything in regards to being a huntsman were pretty mediocre, but he did not ever think that it was to the point where Jaune had to fake his way into Beacon, nor did he see any reason why he would do so in the first place. Thankfully, Jaune was willing to give the answers to at least one of those questions.

"'Cause this is what I've always wanted to be," Jaune revealed. "My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors. They were all heroes. I wanted to be one too, but I was just never good enough."

"Why keep all that to yourself though? I mean, I'm pretty sure we've all made it clear that we're willing to help if you'd just ask," Roxas pointed out.

"Because I don't want help," Jaune finally snapped. "I'm tired of being the lovable idiot stuck in the tree or who needs all of his friends to come and rescue him from danger while everyone else is fighting for their lives! If I can't do this on my own…then what good am I?"

The two both fell quiet after that, neither of them having expected such an outburst like that from Jaune. It had been very clear for a while now that the stress had been really getting to Jaune more than he was willing to let, but now that he had finally let it all out, Roxas could see that Jaune had a lot more on his plate than just problems with classes and bullies. After letting Jaune catch his breath, Roxas finally took the chance to ask, "Feeling better now?"

"…Yeah, a little bit," Jaune admitted, though his expression said otherwise.

Roxas was willing to take whatever he could get though, and decided to just press on with what he was now planning. "Jaune, the thing about being a hero, is that it's not something that most people can do alone. Every hero that has ever existed had people to help them get where they are, be it someone they could train with, someone they could learn from, or really just someone that acted as a shoulder to lean on when they needed it. That's probably part of the reason why schools like Beacon exist; so that students can learn that they've got people who are willing to help them out when they need it."

"That's easy for you to say. You're already a hero in your own right, and the same goes for the rest of your team, Ruby's team, and even all the other members of my team," Jaune weakly argued.

"And we didn't get there on our own," Roxas instantly countered. "Ruby had to learn from her uncle how to use that scythe of hers, Yang was taught how to fight by her dad, Ven learned from both his best friends and their master, and even Sora, despite all that he's capable of doing, needed help from friends to get where he is now. Hell, when I first got the Keyblade, I was probably the farthest thing from being a hero as you can get. I needed friends like Axel, Sora, my sister, Naminé, and even my girlfriend, Xion to help me realize that I could do more than just go around killing Heartless like it was just another job. I mean, it is technically a job for all Keyblade wielders, but there was still more to it than that, and I wasn't able to realize that alone. If you've got people who are willing to help you, then you shouldn't just shut them down, especially if you're going through some tough times."

Jaune seemed to consider Roxas's words for a little bit, honestly wondering if the other boy had a point in what he was saying. It certainly sounded like something that he could hear one of his professors saying, or maybe even Pyrrha and the rest of his teammates, but he was not sure that he could quite believe it just yet. Still, hearing Roxas bring up his best friend like that, Jaune's mind was brought back to a matter he had been wondering about for a while. "Say, do you have any idea why Lea would go out of his way to help me in Oobleck's class earlier today? I mean, assuming he told you about it."

"Dude, are you kidding? There's very little that Axel and I don't talk about these days, if ever," Roxas lightly chuckled in return. He grew serious again, and replied, "Well, I guess it could be because, you probably remind him of me way back when. A bit lost on your road of life, but still with the potential to go far if given a push in the right direction, and just the right amount of help. Sure, it wasn't really like that for him at the time, but looking back, I can't help but think that in a way, Axel was looking out for me, even when we weren't really on the best of terms with each other." A smile then grew on his face a little as he added, "A friend of ours also would say that Axel just loves picking up 'strays,' but then again, he may not be entirely wrong, considering…"

Jaune had to laugh a little at that part, before he grew serious one more time, and asked, "Do you really think I have what it takes to get better?"

"If there's one thing I've learned, be it in life or in the time that I've been a Keyblade wielder, it's that everyone has the chance and the ability to become better than they are at any given time. I've seen bitter enemies become good friends, former friends turn to the wrong side only to be pulled back by the people who care about them, and even someone who committed serious wrongs out of a desire for revenge make huge sacrifices for the sake of others in an attempt to repent for what he had done, and I'm sure that I'll see all of that and more again in the future," Roxas replied with a certain smile. "Jaune, you may not be the best of us, but you can improve. The thing is, it can't just be for yourself, because not everything is about you, especially now."

"What do you mean," Jaune asked, now a little lost.

"Dude, you've got a team now, and more than that, you're the leader of that team. That doesn't just mean you can lean on them when you need support, but also that you've got to put your teammates first, and yourself second," Roxas explained, standing up to leave as he did. As one final afterthought, Roxas also decided to add, "Besides, if you really did get in on a lie, then it must've been a really good one, or Ozpin saw some bit of truth in the lie to take a chance and let you in despite all of that."

Jaune nodded in response to this before he too stood up and followed after Roxas, now feeling a lot more exhausted than he had a moment ago, but at the same time, feeling a little better about himself. That did not mean he was ready to come clean with everyone about his secret just yet, but he did feel like he had a little bit more to think about now.

* * *

The amount of time Jaune spent thinking over Roxas's words ended up extending on for quite some time, and it did not seem like he had come clean with his teammates about how he had faked his way into Beacon, either. Still, he did seem to be doing a bit better than he had been before his talk with Roxas, so the blonde Keybearer in question figured it was only a matter of time before Jaune finally made a decision on what to do. The only problem anyone had now was Cardin and his team, but only because they had suddenly put a hard stop to all of their antics and various torments. Some would say that was a good thing, as it probably meant that Team CRDL had finally gotten a clue, but if you were to ask many of his victims, or even just Sora and his friends, they would all say otherwise on the belief that CRDL was just biding their time for something especially big.

Now was not the time to be worrying about the bullies though, because at this moment, the first-year students of Beacon were all currently following after Professor Goodwitch through a forest that seemed to have been painted in every shade of red imaginable on a field trip, from the leaves to even the grass on the ground, and each of the students were all left gazing about in awe at their magnificent surroundings. Sure, it was not to the same extent as Sora, who was practically jumping for joy at the sight of such a forest, but then again, it was a little hard to match Sora's enthusiasm for adventuring in new places at a normal time for him.

"Yes students, the Forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful, but we are not here to sight-see," Goodwitch reminded everyone, though not without at least a little bit of lightness to her otherwise commanding voice, showing that she was also enjoying the sights of their current location too. "Professor Peaches asked all of you to collect samples from the tress deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure that none of you die while doing so."

"Oh goody. I feel safer already," Lea muttered to Roxas.

Roxas just rolled his eyes at the redhead in response, but ultimately had to smile after doing so. Not because of Lea's remark, but from the sight of how animated and excited Ruby and Sora both seemed to be. From where he was, if felt so much like he was watching two of Sora that it was cute. Looking to his immediate left, he saw that Yang was smirking in the twos direction as well, and one shared glance later, he knew that she was having the same thought as him. More than that, he had a hunch that Yang was likely to try something sneaky to get Sora and Ruby alone together in the hopes that something might happen, and while he was tempted to help with that, he had no intention of causing a repeat of what happened on their first day at Beacon.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates," Goodwitch continued to instruct, apparently missing both Lea's comment and everything that Yang and Roxas had picked up on in regards to their respective team leaders.

"Professor Goodwitch, if you don't mind my asking, what exactly does any of this have to do with being a huntsman? I mean, I understand the need for some to be around because of the Grimm, but the rest of this seems a little…mundane," Ventus questioned.

"Not every job that a huntsman undertakes will be filled with adventure and excitement, Mr. Kunsanagi. Sometimes, you must take on the more mundane of tasks as well, because no one else can," Goodwitch explained calmly. "Now, if there are no further questions, we will rendezvous back here at four o'clock. Have fun!"

Everyone quickly dispersed after that, separating into their own groups, but still keeping in their respective teams as Goodwitch had instructed. Of course, some teams stayed closer to one another than others, one such case being Teams RWBY and SLVR, who were not that far away from Team JNPR. No one really thought too much of this, considering that those three groups were practically attached at the hip ever since initiation, but many would have found it very interesting to see that Sora and Ruby especially seemed to stray close to one another quite a few times. It was hard to really say for sure if it was intentional, but even if it was not, Yang still found enough reasoning behind it to take the obvious action of many other older siblings when they realized that their younger sibling possibly had a crush on someone. The fact that it seemed like Sora shared the feelings she suspected Ruby of having just made it all the sweeter in her mind, so Yang saw no problem at all in going for it. At least she did not until Roxas suddenly got in her way.

"Yeah, if you're going to do what I think you're planning on doing, take my advice, and don't," Roxas told the blonde brawler, his voice strict and showing he was not going to any arguments.

"Hey, I'm just going to have a little harmless fun. No big deal," Yang shrugged off, not fully reading the warning that Roxas was trying to give her.

"In this case, it is a big deal," Roxas disputed as he came around to stand in Yang's path before she could move towards the two. He glanced over to where Sora and Ruby were at the moment to see if there was a risk of Sora noticing or overhearing, and upon confirming that there was none, he looked back to Yang and whispered, "At least if you do it while Sora's so much as in hearing range, or any range at all."

"What're you talking about," Yang asked, now really confused.

"Just…Look, just trust me on this, okay? If you want to tease your sister about having a crush on Sora, I won't stop you, but promise me that you won't do it when you know that Sora's around," Roxas quietly pleaded.

"But why is it such a…"

"Promise me!"

"Okay, okay! I promise! Jeez! You don't need to act like it would be the end of the world if he heard me," Yang finally conceded, hoping that would get Roxas to calm down a little.

Roxas did not say anything in reply and soon went off to fill up his jar with some Forever Fall tree sap, leaving a very confused Yang behind. Yet another incident where Team SLVR was acting odd had now made her list, and this one definitely seemed worrisome in her eyes. She had always figured that Sora's teammates thought very highly of him, and would do anything to help him, but the way Roxas was acting just now suggested that he was trying to shield Sora from something, almost to the point where it seemed like he was worried that thing would break Sora if they were not careful. Yang was well aware of what doing something like that could do to a person, but for the life of her, she could not piece together just what could be the thing that Roxas and the others were shielding Sora, of all people from, or what it would have to do with her possibly teasing him about a relationship with her sister. He seemed to handle it pretty well the first time, save for the embarrassment and stuttering.

Yang was about to seek out Roxas so she could pry some answers from him, when a hand suddenly clapped down on her shoulder, making her turn to see the redhead of SLVR standing next to her with a grin. "Don't worry about it too much," Lea reassured her. "Roxas is a little more protective of Sora than the rest of us since he and Sora are so close to each other. You could say that they're practically brothers, really. I mean, you should be careful when discussing certain topics around Sora, but you shouldn't worry about it too much."

"…If you say so," Yang eventually shrugged in response, figuring it was better to just play it off and focus on their assignment for now. She could try and work out the answer to the puzzle behind Team SLVR and their leader later on. If anything, she just hoped that whatever that problem was, it would not end up hurting Ruby at any point down the line. If there was one thing that upset Yang Xiao Long more than someone messing with her hair, it was anything that would make her little sister upset in even the smallest of ways.

* * *

While the others were just minding their own business and carrying on with their assignment, Team CRDL had somehow already managed to finish filling all of their jars and a few extras as well. Sadly, they had not collected extra jars in the hopes of getting extra credit. No, their intentions in filling those spare jars had a far more sinister nature to it. Their plans could be easily figured out by how they were secretly watching Teams RWBY, SLVR, and JNPR from their current hiding spot, but most notably, how Cardin was glaring at a select group among the three teams in particular. "Couple of freaks and red-haired know-it-alls think they're so tough and smart. Well now, it's time for a little payback," Cardin growled as he eyed Sora, Roxas, Lea, and Pyrrha. He then pulled out a shaking box that had a faint buzzing sound coming from inside, and smiled darkly as he explained his plan to his team. "Alright, boys. Last night, I managed to round up an entire box of rapier wasps, and now, we're gonna put 'em to work."

"Meaning what," Dove asked, sounding a little worried about what his team's leader had in mind.

"I'm getting there," Cardin reassured him. "See, when I was doing one of those stupid essays last week, I learned that these nasty things looove sweets, like say a whole jar of Forever Fall tree sap, and that's what gave me an idea on how we finally teach those two Keyblade boys and their friends a thing or two. We simply take these spar jars, hit 'em with the sap inside, and then, we set these babies loose. That oughta teach them not to mess with us."

"You mean you," Sky corrected, making his whole team turn to him with either worried or angry looks. "Sure, we all got taken down by Hikari and Sheru, but that was only because of how you went and decided to pick a fight with them, and they've only ever done something to us because of something that you did, like when you were messing with that Faunus girl, or all those times when you tried to mess with Jaune."

"I didn't see you stopping me. You guys have been going along with all of it," Cardin pointed out with a dangerous tone.

"Yeah, until we got our butts handed to us by Sora and Roxas, and aside from that, you're also the one that got Pyrrha Nikos on us because of how you were messing with Jaune. Face it, Cardin, they've only been acting out of defense, while you've been doing nothing but antagonizing them," Sky kept arguing.

"Hey, you wimping out on us," Russel questioned. "Come on, Cardin's right. Everyone thinks those guys are some big hot-shots; they could do with a little humiliation to bring them back down to Remnant. This is the perfect way to do it."

"Or get them killed," Dove pointed out.

"Fine, then don't help. I guess I'll just have a little chat with Goodwitch about how you two really passed some of those most recent exams. I'm sure she'd love to know about the little cheat sheets that you got your hands on," Cardin threatened with a knowing smirk.

"What? You're blackmailing us now? Your own teammates? Great way to prove their point, man," Sky shot back, sounding more than a little angry. "Besides, you're the one who gave us those cheat sheets."

"And yet you have no way to prove it. After all, I'm not the one who actually snuck into Professor Port's office to snap pictures of his test answers, now am I," Cardin rhetorically questioned, knowing full well that Dove and Sky were the ones to have committed said act. Having felt that he had everything properly secured in his favor, Cardin held out two jars of sap to his teammates and asked, "So boys, what'll it be? Help out, or do you feel like taking a chance with Goodwitch?"

Now properly backed into a corner, Dove and Sky just glared at their "leader" before they ultimately snatched the sap jars that Cardin was offering for them to take. Seeing that, Cardin's evil smirk returned as he and Russel readied their own jars to throw, targeting Sora and Roxas respectively, and leaving Lea and Pyrrha for the more hesitant pair. If they had been paying a little more attention though, they probably would have noticed the big, looming creature that was slowly approaching them from behind well before they had heard the deep, vicious growl that made them all freeze up in fear.

As they slowly turned around to face the beast, Team CRDL was all faced with the sight of a huge, Ursa Major, glaring down at all four of them. Unable to really think of anything else, Cardin whipped out his mace, jumped back so that his teammates were between him and the Grimm, and shouted, "It's just some stupid bear! You guys can take him, easy!"

Seeing this as more proof of their leader's cowardice, Dove and Sky both tossed their jars at Cardin, making the sap inside spill all over his armor, and blinding him long enough for them to make a break for it. As he ran away, Sky shouted back, "Fight your own battles, Cardin! No stupid grudge is worth this!"

Not really knowing what else to do now that the other two had fled, Russel just went off instinct and ran for it, leaving Cardin to fight the Ursa on his own, and from the way it was sniffing the air, clearly picking up on the sap that now coated his armor, he could not help but gulp upon realizing just how bad his odds of surviving really were.

* * *

"…Aaaaaand, done," Sora reported as he finished filling his jar of Forever Fall sap. He quickly made sure to screw the lid onto the jar very tight, after seeing how Nora appeared to have inhaled a few jars of Team JNPR's, and even one or two of Team RWBY's, and stood up so that he could place it with the rest of his team's. "You know, this kinda reminds me of all the times Donald, Goofy, and I stopped to look for ingredients that Little Chef could use for his recipes."

"Oh yeah, I remember hearing about how you guys stopped somewhere in just about every…where that you went just to look for that stuff," Ventus recalled, having to pause part way through when he almost slipped and said "world" instead of "where."

"Who's Little Chef," Ruby suddenly asked, startling both boys when she spoke up. Neither of them had realized the girl was behind them until just now.

Regaining his composure, Sora happily explained, "He's a good friend of mine and an awesome cook. With my help, he was able to make this bistro in Roxas's hometown a huge, five-star success."

"Wow! Sounds like he makes some really good stuff," Ruby cooed in awe.

"You have no idea. The food he makes is so good, that even the first bite can make you feel like all of your taste buds are throwing the biggest party imaginable," Sora said. He then gained a smug smile, and said, "He even taught me a lot of his cooking skills, so now, I'm a pretty great cook too."

"He's not just saying that! We've all tried some of Sora's cooking recently, and it's really good," Lea confirmed, backing up Sora's story.

"Hey, maybe Sora and Ren should have a cook-off some time, so that we can see which of them is a better chef," Nora suggested, wiping away the latest traces of the Forever Fall she had just recently drank from the jar she was holding, much to Pyrrha's annoyance.

Sora and Ren looked to one another for a minute, both having been a little surprised by Nora's suggestion and the fact that they were both capable cooks for their age, before the green-clad boy smiled and said, "I would certainly welcome the chance to test my skills against those of one who had been taught by a master chef."

"Alright then, you're on, Ren," Sora agreed with a smile of his own.

Before anyone could let out a cheer of excitement at this prospect, a loud groan suddenly met their ears, and they all turned to see Jaune fall face first into the grass. "Jaune! Are you okay," Pyrrha asked as she rushed over to check on him.

"I think I'm allergic to this stuff," Jaune admitted, his voice supporting his suspicion with how queasy he sounded.

"Don't worry, bud. You just sit back for a minute and try to rest. We'll make sure that Nora doesn't try to inhale your jar of sap for a while," Lea soothingly reassured him while helping Pyrrha prop him up against a tree.

As the two redheads were moving Jaune, Nora finally took notice of something that others had in the past. "You know, if I didn't already know better, I'd have been right with Cardin in thinking that Pyrrha and Lea were related to each other."

"They do share a few similarities, appearance-wise," Ren agreed.

"Really? Like what," Ventus asked, not seeing what the other two were.

"Like they're both redheads and they both have green eyes, just to name a couple of examples," Yang pointed out.

"I'm pretty sure those are the only similarities that they have with one another," Blake informed her partner.

Upon looking at the two again, Ventus could certainly see what the others were referring to now, since Pyrrha and Lea did in fact share those similarities, but before anyone could comment further on the matter, a loud roar reached all their ears, followed by the sounds of someone screaming. "Did you guys hear that," Ruby asked in worry.

No one got the chance to answer Ruby's question, as most of Team CRDL suddenly came running towards and past them, all while Russel was shouting, "Ursa! Ursa!"

"What? Where," Yang demanded after the boy had bumped into her. Not that seemed to have moved her all that much, if at all, but it did put her in arm's reach of the boy, allowing her to lift him up by his shirt collar so that she could get answers before he ran off.

Russel could only shiver in fear upon realizing that the blonde had caught him, mainly because everyone was now well aware of just how bad an idea it was to make Yang upset, but he still managed to work through his fear long enough to point back the way he came from and answer her question. "Back there! It's got Cardin!"

Yang let Russel go so he could run off immediately after, and after processing this news, Lea ended up shrugging and turning to walk off in another direction as he said, "Oh well. Too bad. I'd say it had been nice knowing him, but…"

Lea's departure was stopped short when Sora suddenly grabbed him by the hood of his vest without even looking, and stated, "We've gotta go and help him."

"Are you kidding me," Lea asked in disbelief. "Sora, I know you're like the ultimate nice guy and everything, but come on! Let the guy get what's coming to him!"

"Hey, no one's saying that Cardin doesn't deserve to pay for all the trouble he's caused, but that doesn't mean we should leave him to die," Sora argued in favor of helping the bully.

"Oh please. He's training to be a huntsman like everyone else at this school. I'm sure he can take care of himself. So what if he gets a little roughed up," Lea dismissed with a scoff.

"Considering that it looks like his teammates all abandoned him to fight it alone, I don't think he's just going to get roughed up," Ventus pointed out.

"I may not like bullies like Cardin all that much, but even I don't think they deserve to be left to die like that," Roxas agreed with his fellow blonde.

Before any of the others could offer their two cents in this argument, the sound of Jaune's shield being activated suddenly reached their ears, and they all turned just in time to see the blonde knight rushing off in the direction that Team CRDL had come from, with weapons ready. "Jaune," Pyrrha called out in worry.

"Well, I guess that settles whether we're going after Cardin or not," Roxas commented as he took off after Jaune.

"Roxas!" Lea yelled after his friend. After another minute or so, he let out an irritated sigh and took off after his best friend as he muttered, "Damn it! Why and how does he always end up dragging me into this kind of crap?!"

Seeing so many of her friends take off like that had helped bring Ruby into full leader-mode, and she was soon giving out orders to her teammates. "Yang! You and Blake, go get Professor Goodwitch."

"You two, go with them! There could be more," Pyrrha told Ren and Nora as the blonde and raven haired girls of RWBY took off for the professor's last known location.

"Ven and I will go with them as well just in case any of the Heartless show up. You never know when those guys may be crawling around, waiting to pounce," Sora informed the two girls, his Keyblade already in hand as he turned to follow the four that had just left. He spared one last look to the three remaining girls, and said, "Be careful."

Even though he had said it to all three of them, Weiss and Pyrrha could somehow tell that he was mostly directing it towards Ruby with how his gaze seemed to be especially focused on her. Not that they were complaining, mind you; they thought it was a little sweet of him, really, but they did not have time to make any kind of remark on the matter. They had a bully to save from a very nasty sounding Grimm, along with a few friends who were probably already in the midst of doing the very same thing. So, with one final nod to Sora, they all raced away to their respective objectives, hoping that they did not arrive too late.

* * *

If there was ever time that Cardin was willing to believe that karma did exist, he had a feeling that it would be now, all because this one Ursa was now attacking him since he was covered in the Forever Fall tree sap that he had been planning on dousing a few of his classmates with. It was either that or irony, but when you are running for your life in an attempt to get away from the beast that had just disarmed you of your only weapon not even a few seconds after your teammates left you to fend for yourself, you do not really have time to think about stuff like that too much or too hard. His attempts at fleeing from the Ursa Major eventually ended up all for not, when the beast suddenly leapt over and in front of him, and then bashed him down onto the ground with one furious swipe of its claws.

Cardin struggled to rise up and at least crawl away after that, praying against all odds that he had at least landed somewhere near where his mace had fallen, but the Grimm was just too fast for him, and he ended up just cowering in fear for the inevitable when he noticed it moving to attack again. Barely even seconds after he had shut his eyes, a loud thud reached his ears, but oddly enough, it did not sound the Ursa's claws so much as scratching his armor. To his surprise, there was no pain on any part of him either; not even a small sting from a cut, and that made Cardin feel that it was safe enough to chance a look to see what had happened. Opening his eyes, Cardin was left very surprised by the sight before him, not from seeing that someone had stepped in between him and the Ursa, and blocked the Grimm's claws with their shield, but because of just who that person was.

"Jaune," Cardin somehow managed to gasp in question when he regained enough of his breath to speak.

Indeed, there, standing over Cardin with his shield holding back the Grimm and his sword ready to strike, was none other than Jaune Arc, one of the very people that he had been tormenting ever since the first week of school, and from what Cardin could tell, the leader of Team JNPR did not even seem the slightest bit afraid of the beast that was bearing down on him. It did not make any sense to Cardin as to why Jaune would be risking his neck for him like this, and he was honestly not sure that he believed it, but when Jaune suddenly slashed at the beast after letting himself be pushed down to just the right point, Cardin ended up finding that he had to believe it.

To be fair, Jaune could hardly believe what he was doing, too. Sure, he hated Cardin, and the fact that his teammates had suddenly appeared near where he and his friends were after being out of sight since Goodwitch had left everyone to their assignments, coupled with seeing all the sap that was on Cardin's armor told quite the story to the young Arc, but right now, Jaune did not really care about any of that. Right now, Cardin was just someone that was in trouble, and he had the ability to try and help him, so that was exactly what Jaune had decided to do. That did not mean he was willing to do everything on his own, of course.

"Cardin, you still able to fight," Jaune asked, barely letting his gaze wander from the Ursa for too long as it tried to recover from his attack.

"If I can find my mace, yeah," Cardin admitted, but he sounded a little unsure to Jaune.

Sadly, Jaune could not really call his bully out on how truthful he was or was not being right then, because a sudden bit of movement in the shadows caught Jaune's attention, and before either of them knew it, a few familiar faces had suddenly popped out. Sure, they were not the same as the ones that Jaune had seen back in the Emerald Forest, but he was still able to piece together what these things were just from seeing the beady, yellow eyes and heart-shaped emblem that they all seemed to have. "And now the Heartless are here," Jaune groaned in misery. "Just perfect. Why couldn't Sora and the others have told us a little more about these things after what happened in the Emerald Forest?"

"What…What kind of Grimm are those things," Cardin stuttered as he slowly started edging closer to Jaune.

"Not Grimm; Heartless, and according to Sora and his friends, they're a lot worse," Jaune warned in correction.

As Jaune looked about, he noticed that several of these Heartless looked like some variety of plants, most of those being like some form of dandelion or dandelion seed, while the majority of the Heartless looked a lot like blue monkeys with savage looking claws. Since Team SLVR had not gone too far into detail on the different types of Heartless, at least as far as Jaune could remember, he had no clue what these ones were capable of, so it only made sense that he would quickly ram through several of them after he spotted where Cardin's mace had landed. As soon as he had reached the dropped weapon, Jaune scooped it up and tossed it over to Cardin, shouting, "Head's up!"

Cardin easily caught the thrown weapon, even while he was rushing to get back over to Jaune, feeling that it was better to stay close to someone that knew at least a little bit about these strange creatures. "Tell me you've got some kind of plan," Cardin begged as he held his mace up and at the ready.

"Don't try to blitz them blindly, for starters," Jaune stated as though it were obvious. "Neither of us knows what these things can do, and I'm guessing you don't have that much Aura at the moment, do you?" Cardin's soft growl of frustration was all the confirmation that Jaune needed to know his guess was right, but that mattered little in the long run at the moment. "Make sure that you keep clear of the Ursa, and since you _love_ picking on 'animals' so much, how about you try to just worry about the monkeys while keeping clear of them."

Cardin was not so stupid as to miss the fact that Jaune was throwing a not-so-subtle barb at his treatment of the Faunus students, and at the remark he had made in Oobleck's class in the other day, but he would admit that Jaune had a good plan for the moment, and the two quickly set to work in trying to take down their current opponents. They did not really have too much success. Sure, being around the Keyblade wielders had helped Jaune gain a little extra power that would help him to better deal with Heartless than most average folks, but Cardin was not as lucky, so most of his attacks did very little to affect the dwellers of darkness, if anything at all. Plus, with how all the plant-like Heartless seemed to hop around while slashing through them with their leaf-like appendages, and the way that the monkey ones were able to swing through the trees and basically attack them in a manner similar to the animals that they looked like, the fight was not much easier for the boys. Not to mention there was still the Ursa to worry about, and from the way it seemed to always go after Cardin, it almost seemed like it knew which one of them was the easier prey at the moment. Either that or it was still being drawn in by the sap that was covering Cardin's armor.

Eventually, Cardin was down on the ground again, his mace falling out of reach when he got hit by an attack from one of the monkey Heartless and his Aura now dangerously low, and Jaune was forced to just play a feeble defense by attempting to cover them both behind his shield. At times, he would also swing his sword at some of them, not really caring if he so much as nicked them or just scared them off with the feeble attacks, but it made little difference, and Jaune had to wonder aloud, "Where's Team SLVR when you need them?"

Surprisingly, Jaune's question actually got answered by a very familiar voice. "I don't know about the rest of my team, but me, I was just waiting for you to ask for our help before I stepped in." Not even a second later, Roxas burst onto the scene with a powerful cross slash, taking out several Heartless in one go, and a few more swings of his blades sent several more of them packing back into the shadows that they had come from. "I'll handle these guys and covering Cardin, Jaune. You just worry about that oversized bear over there," Roxas told his friend once he found a moment to pause in his efforts to cut down the Heartless.

"Are you sure," Jaune asked, not wanting to leave Roxas to fight the Heartless alone without double-checking he would be okay, first.

"Please. They may not be as low on the totem pole as Shadows, but Powerwilds are still easy enough for me to handle," Roxas smirked in confidence. When the two boys just looked at him in confusion, he quickly clarified, "That's what the monkeys are called. And just for future reference, the plant-looking ones are Chief Puffs and Puffballs."

"And what about the ones up the trees with bows and arrows," Cardin asked, indicating the branches of nearby trees, pointing out several Heartless that they had all missed up until now.

Looking to the Heartless in question, Roxas was soon spinning his blades around to deflect several incoming arrows as he replied, "Those would be Bizarre Archers."

Jaune was about to protest against leaving Roxas alone, when all of a sudden, a pair of flaming, spinning wheels suddenly came flying through the air, cutting through several of the Bizarre Archers before they circled back around to not only cut down some Chief Puffs and Puffballs, but also incinerate any of the ones that were close by as well. When the wheels returned to where they came from, the three boys were all greeted to the sight of Lea leaping into the area with his chakrams in hand, which he soon changed back into his Keyblade once he had landed next to Roxas.

"Jeez, I've said it before and I'll say it again. Why do I always seem to get the icky jobs," Lea complained, though none of them could tell how serious he was being right then. The redhead then cleared up that question when he came to stand alongside Roxas, and told Jaune, "No worries Mighty Knight, Roxas and I can burn through all of these creeps easily enough. After all, they were stupid enough to bring plants to fire fight."

"Axel, please, I'm begging you, stop with the fire puns," Roxas pleaded.

"Not happening, buddy," Lea grinned in return. "Besides, we've got to deal with these losers, and I've got more than a little bit of aggression to burn off just from the fact we're having to save the idiot jerk who doesn't seem smart enough to learn from his past mistakes."

"Hey, I'm right here," Cardin grumbled.

"I know, that's why I said it," Lea proudly informed him.

"Thanks guys," Jaune nodded to the Keybearers before they could get much further into an argument, and he quickly moved to engage the Ursa once more.

What none of the boys realized was that Roxas and Lea's arrival was shortly followed by the arrival of Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha, all of whom had just seen and heard everything that had followed Roxas's quick rescue. After hearing the Keybearers' plan and seeing Jaune actually going through with it by charging at the Ursa on his own, Weiss immediately drew her rapier and spun its revolver around so that she would be ready to fire off a dust-infused attack, thinking Jaune would need the help. Before she could charge though, Pyrrha suddenly held an arm out to block her path and said, "Wait. I think we should let them handle this."

While they understood why she would rather leave Roxas and Lea to fight the Heartless, neither Weiss or Ruby could possibly imagine why Pyrrha was so willing to let her partner face such a Grimm like that Ursa on his own. Truth be told, Pyrrha did not want to leave Jaune to fight this battle alone either, and she would have been the first to rush to his aid had she not known just how serious a dilemma he had been facing lately was. It had been clear to Pyrrha for quite a while now that Jaune had been having doubts in his abilities as both a future huntsman and a leader, with or without Cardin's torment, but she had a strong hunch that winning a fight like this under his own power would be just the thing that Jaune needed right now.

It certainly seemed to be doing something for Jaune, as he was slashing away at the Ursa the minute he was close enough. Not in a wild, uncontrolled manner, but with a little bit of precision in that he was trying his best to aim for areas that where there was little to no armor, and when the Ursa did find an opening to attack, Jaune immediately ducked and rolled out of the way. Seeing the Ursa readying another swing, Jaune quickly jumped up to avoid the attack, but ended up receiving a hard jab into his gut while he was still in the air afterwards. That did not stop Jaune for long, because he used the momentum of his fall to roll back to his feet and then charge again in order to go for a leaping strike. That proved as successful as his last dodging attempt, as the Ursa managed to bat him away while he was in midair. Once again, Jaune managed to roll back onto his feet after hitting the ground, but this time, he took a quick look at his Scroll to gauge his Aura level. Seeing that it had fallen into the red zone, Jaune mentally cursed his luck, because he doubted that a Grimm like this was going to let him fall into a more defensive strategy at this point. So, without really thinking it over too much, Jaune just charged in with a battle cry, intending to end it in one go.

Jaune's attack probably would have been good if he had not left himself so open, a fact that Pyrrha quickly noticed as he and the Ursa drew closer to one another. Seeing that he was not likely to be able to correct this in time, assuming he planned to at all, Pyrrha quickly raised a hand forward as said appendage started to glow with a faint, black color, prompting a similar glow to suddenly encase Jaune's shield without him noticing. The next thing anyone knew, Jaune's shield had suddenly been lifted upwards just enough to block the Ursa's attack, providing him with just the opening he needed to slice the bear Grimm's head off in one swing.

Seeing the beast fall to the ground with a loud thud, Pyrrha could not help but smile a little as she lowered her hand again, the glow disappearing from it as she did. Ruby and Weiss's surprised looks of confusion were a different story though. "Uh…What," Ruby asked while looking between Pyrrha's hand and the girl in question.

"How did you…" Weiss started to question, showing that she was just as amazed and confused as her partner.

"Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs, Roxas has his light, Lea has his fire. My Semblance is polarity," Pyrrha easily explained.

"Ah, you can control poles," Ruby whispered gasped in awe, not understanding what Pyrrha meant when she said that.

"No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism," Weiss corrected.

"Magnets are cool, too," Ruby continued to whisper, still impressed all the same.

"Ahem. We're fine too, thanks for asking," Lea's voice suddenly stated, startling the three a little when they turned to see him and Roxas standing next to them. The redhead then looked to his blonde companion and asked, "So are we done here, or can I finally burn Cardin?"

"No, you cannot burn Cardin, but yes, I do believe we're done here," Roxas confirmed for his friend, looking over to where Jaune was with a smile.

Pyrrha seemed to feel the same way as she turned to go back to the others along with the other two, confusing Weiss and Ruby a little. "Wait, where you all going," Weiss questioned.

"Yeah, we gotta tell them what happened," Ruby added.

"I'm pretty sure they've noticed by now that all the Heartless are toast, and Roxas and I already gave Cardin another warning to watch himself, so there's not much reason for us to stick around," Lea informed the girls. When they looked at him in confusion about that second thing, Lea pointed to Cardin and asked, "What do you think he was planning to do with the sap that's currently covering his armor? I'd bet you anything that it wasn't for a better grade."

"That aside…We could tell them everything else," Pyrrha started to say before her gaze rested on Jaune and brought a smile to her face. "Or, perhaps, we could just keep it our little secret."

Looking back at Jaune, Ruby and Weiss both smiled in understanding of the meaning behind Pyrrha's words. At that moment, he looked nothing like the clumsy, sad sap of a dork that they had known since arriving at Beacon. Right now, even as he sheathed his sword on his belt, Jaune had an air of confidence and pride in him that they had only seen during their last fight in the Emerald Forest during initiation. Even as he marched over to help Cardin up again, Jaune walked without even a trace of doubt in his being, and the two girls had to nod in agreement with Pyrrha's suggestion as they followed after the rest of their friends.

As for Cardin, he was still in the midst of processing that everything he had just seen and experienced had really happened. Sure, he was a little frightened by the threat that Lea and Roxas had given him, but that was barely even a footnote compared to what he was seeing from Jaune at the moment. The guy was standing over him with a kind of bravery and sureness that he had not seen in the guy before, even as he pulled him up. Sure, the way that Jaune was looking at him did leave him a little nervous, but beyond that, Cardin had to admit that what he saw Jaune do just now was way too impressive for him to ignore. "Holy crap, Jaune," Cardin praised, feeling that the guy deserved it.

Jaune was not too willing to completely accept it though, as he still had a few words of his own to give Cardin. "Don't think I didn't figure out what you were planning over here," the blonde knight growled at his bully. What came off as more impressive though, was how Jaune stared Cardin straight in the eye, and threateningly stated, "You're getting off lucky this time, but I'm warning you right now…Don't ever mess with my team, my friends, ever again. Got it?"

Cardin definitely felt a lot more intimidated now, but from what Jaune could see, it almost seemed like he had an apologetic look in his eyes as well. Not that he was too willing to really believe it entirely, if at all, but Jaune did not care. He had said his piece, and so, he turned and marched away, leaving Cardin alone to think about a few things.

* * *

That night, Jaune was up on the roof of the dorm building again, gazing up at the moon and stars, only this time, he had not come up here by accident. In point of fact, he was actually waiting for someone, and that very girl just stepped through the door. "This is a very nice spot. Great view, quiet, and out of the way of everyone else. How'd you find it," Pyrrha asked as she approached her partner, taking in the sights of more than just the view that their rooftop rendezvous offered.

"By accident, believe it or not," Jaune half-joked in reply, drawing a smile from the redhead. He just hoped that smile would not disappear completely after tonight, but Jaune needed to own up to a few things. "Pyrrha…I'm sorry. I've been a jerk. I know that technically not asking you guys for help when I needed it isn't really grounds for being a jerk, but my reasons for it definitely count. I-I had all this stupid macho stuff in my head making me think that I had to do everything alone, and…"

"Jaune. It's okay," Pyrrha interrupted, still smiling, much to his surprise. "I know that things have been hard for you, but we all handle tough times in different ways. What really matters is how we move forward after getting through those tough times. Just know that, in the future, I'll always have your back, and so will the rest of us."

That made Jaune share in Pyrrha's smile, showing he was happy that Pyrrha was still willing to stand with him. Sure, it did not seem like she was even all that upset with him to begin with, but Jaune still felt like he had to apologize for not coming to her and the others with his problems a little sooner. Looking at her now, and seeing just how beautiful her smile was right then, Jaune could not help but wonder what he did to deserve a good friend like Pyrrha, because he certainly had no clue. "Hey, speaking of your team, we're all really glad to see you're doing better now," Pyrrha informed him as she turned to head back inside. "It's practically to the point where it seems like we're ready to throw a big party to celebrate. You should come down and see for yourself. Ren made pancakes~. No syrup, though; you can thank Nora for that."

Jaune had to let a small chuckle slip past his lips hearing that, but he still was not quite ready to leave just yet. "Wait, Pyrrha, there's still some things I need to talk with you about," he revealed, making the redhead turn to face him again. "I was wondering if…If you would be willing to help me? To help me become a better fighter."

"You want me to train you," Pyrrha asked, just for clarification.

"It's all right if you don't want to," Jaune quickly assured her. "I mean, I know we've already got a lot on our plates as it is with school work and stuff, but we could just meet up here after class or something. Like you said, no one would bother us since it's out of the way, and…"

"Jaune," Pyrrha interrupted again, prompting the boy to look up and see that she was giving him a very satisfied smile. "I'd be happy to help you become a better fighter. To be honest, I was going to offer to help you anyways, but it looks like you beat me to the punch."

Hearing that made Jaune grin almost as widely as his partner, and he was more than willing to start right away, but he knew that it would have to wait for a little bit. There were still a couple more matters that he needed to talk with Pyrrha and the rest of his team about, and he did not intend to keep any of it from them any longer. Just when Pyrrha was about to suggest that they get started now, Jaune looked to her again and said, "There's one more thing that you should know…and that Ren and Nora should know about, too."

"What's that," Pyrrha asked, suddenly feeling a little nervous by how serious Jaune had suddenly become.

Jaune began heading for the door back inside, while saying, "Like I said, Ren and Nora should know about this too, and I think it would be better if we talked about it in our dorm. I'd rather not risk the wrong people finding out about this little detail."

Pyrrha said nothing in response, but instead, just nodded her head in understanding and followed after him. In her heart though, she knew that no matter what Jaune was going to tell them, she would stand with him to the end, and Nora and Ren would certainly do the same. A few minutes later, when Jaune had confessed the secret as to how he really got into Beacon, Pyrrha was happy to say that she was right, because it did not change a thing in her mind, or those of the two childhood friends, and when she told him as much, Jaune just beamed in thanks to all of them, glad to see that his team would have his back.

* * *

**_AN: [still running from a pissed off Yang] SOMEBODY HELP ME!_**

**_Ruby: I'm actually surprised that they're still going for this long. Normally Yang would have gotten to her target by now, or she would've just given up and let it rest._**

**_Weiss: How long has she gone after someone for touching her hair before?_**

**_Ruby: [thinks back] Let's just say there's a reason I don't like thinking about the day she got her first haircut. [shivers] Well, on the bright side, at least lyoko had some notes on stuff to go over at the end of the chapter for us too, so we can do that while we wait for them to finally stop._**

**_Blake: Not like there's many other options. First off, lyoko wanted to admit that he did change up the first fight between Jaune and Cardin. His reason for doing this is that the original writer of Remnant of the Key wanted to make Jaune a little more competent than he was displayed as in the show, and lyoko does agree that Jaune certainly had the ability to be much more capable the most people would give him credit for. After all, even if Ozpin did admit Jaune into Beacon while knowing that his transcripts were faked, Jaune would have to have some level of capability to have never hurt himself with his weapons, and take as much punishment as he did when he first showed up. He's not changing Jaune too much from what we know, but he does like the idea of a Jaune Arc that is at least a reasonably-leveled rookie. His closest comparison is actually to say that Jaune was like Sora at the very beginning of the first Kingdom Hearts game, or something like that._**

**_Weiss: Then there's the matter of my match with Sora. You didn't really think that he would have me ask for a match and then not show us actually fighting did you? It was apparently not to easy for him to write out, as he had to keep in mind just what skills I was known to possess in the first volume of RWBY, but I'd personally like to believe that the results were quite fantastic, even if I did end up losing in the end._**

**_Ruby: Aw, don't worry, Weiss. You're always going to be a winner in our book._**

**_Weiss: Ruby, please! This story is not supposed to be a WhiteRose story, it's RoseHeart._**

**_Ruby: So, I can't show my appreciation for my BFF?_**

**_Blake: Girls, can we not start that now? Moving on, was anyone surprised to see Sora and Roxas stand up to Cardin for Velvet? [looks about to see if anyone says yes, only to find none] Didn't think so. It's only natural that those two would be the ones who ultimately stand up to the bully._**

**_Weiss: Come to think of it, Lea and Roxas seemed to get the spotlight quite a bit in this chapter. I suppose it's only natural though after seeing how Sora and Ven have been able to show off quite a bit in some of the past chapters in this story so far. I'm a little surprised that he did not make Sora and Roxas's match with Team CRDL go for a little longer though._**

**_Ruby: That was actually intentional, because he wanted to show just how much of an easier fight those bullies were for Sora and Roxas in comparison to the one Sora had with you, Weiss. It's really not that big of a surprise though, considering that Pyrrha was able to beat all four of them by herself in Volume 2, and I'm pretty sure Pyrrha wasn't even trying that hard in that fight, either._**

**_Pyrrha: If I can be honest, I actually enjoyed that quite a bit. It gave me a perfect chance to get back at Cardin and his team for what they did to Jaune._**

**_Sora: And the moral of that story is don't mess with Pyrrha's knight in shinning armor unless you want to get hurt. Speaking of Cardin, lyoko also had his little revenge scheme continue on similarly to the way it was in canon both because it was a defining moment for Jaune that he felt that the story could not do without, even if he was not there the entire time, and because he believed that not everyone on Team CRDL is really as bad as their leader was at the time, assuming he actually has changed since then. After all, how often do you hear of a gang like that being completely united on the stuff that their leader does? Sure, it may make Cardin seem a little less redeemable, but lyoko honestly just doesn't like the guy because of the fact that Cardin is a bully, and he has yet to see any indication that he's changed his ways since then._**

**_Roxas: Not to mention we've now seen a few more Heartless in this chapter, this time being our old friends the Powerwilds, and some of the newer Heartless that were introduced in Kingdom Hearts 3. You didn't think that lyoko was going to have them only show up every now and then, or only in seriously major battles like the Initiation, did you? Besides, what better excuse could me and Axel have for staying away from Jaune's big moment than keeping the Heartless from getting in the way of it?_**

**_Lea: Well, now that we've covered all of that, has Yang finally stopped chasing lyoko?_**

**_Everyone: [look to see lyoko still running for his life from Yang, only now, he's started tapping at his watch for something]_**

**_Ruby: Now what's he doing?_**

**_AN: [grins as he sees a notification on his watch, and then skids to a halt as he spins around to face Yang] Why don't you take a chill pill? [a number of giant freeze canons suddenly extend from the ceiling and floor and fire at Yang]_**

**_Yang: [just keeps growling until the beams freeze her solid in a block of ice. Said ice likely to either burst apart or melt at any time given that her Semblance is still activated]_**

**_AN: Okay...[panting] Alright...I'm...Whoa! I did a lot of running, but I'm glad to see that everyone seems to have enjoyed today's chapter. Is there anything else that we need to go over before calling it a day?_**

**_Everyone other than Yang and AN: Nope._**

**_AN: Alright then, let's wrap this up so that I can get a head start in getting away from Yang before that ice melts. Onto the preview!..._**

**_After all the excitement that had recently occurred, Sora and his pals are more than ready to take a day for themselves and just relax. What they did not count on was that the members of Team RWBY would be right there with each of them in that relaxing, some of them even getting the boys to change their plans for something that could be more fun, at least in the mind of the respective girl. Just what will take place on this relative day-off for the Keyblade wielders and huntresses-in-training? And will it last forever? Take a moment to just chill out and smell the roses, next time._**

**_Yang: [suddenly starts cracking the ice]_**

**_AN: Oh, that looks like my cue! Gotta-go-now! BYE! [takes off as fast as possible before suddenly running back] Oh, and before I forget..._**

**_Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy._**

**_Okay, I'm out now! [runs off again]_**

**_Yang: [finally breaks out of the ice] GET BACK HERE!_**

**_Ruby: YANG, NO! WE NEED HIM TO CONTINUE THE STORY! DON'T HURT HIM! [chases after her sister]_**


	6. An Easy Day

**_[cue "Mission Impossible Theme"]_**

**_Mysterious Figure: [suddenly drops into the room, and spins left and right as if to show he's ready to make any kind of move at a moment's notice. Upon seeing he's clear, he then jumps and rolls away to duck behind a desk. Slowly peaking up, he glances about his surroundings, trying to determine if the area is safe for him to proceed through. Confirming he's clear, he quickly vaults over the desk to swiftly move across the room, and then quietly slams up against the wall by a door. Reaching out with one hand the figure steadily opens the door, and uses a mirror to peak inside, making sure that the coast is clear before stealthily moving inside and hiding behind a large, potted plant. Slowly moving out from his hiding place, the man tip-toes across the room, carefully...carefully...Not willing to trigger any kind of trap that may be sprung at any moment. Upon reaching the main desk in the room, he steadily creeps around to the side that the chair is on, never noticing that he's not as alone in the room as he thinks]_**

**_Ruby: Hey lyoko!_**

**_Mysterious Figure: [leaps about ten feet in the air in fright before ducking behind the desk chair] AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! NO! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO IT, I SWEAR! [peaks one eye open when no pain is felt, allowing him to see a confused and slightly startled Ruby] Oh, Ruby...It's just you. For a second there, I thought...Wait. [looks around the room for a minute] There isn't anything that is distinctly Yang-shaped hiding anywhere near you, is there?_**

**_Ruby: Uh...No? I haven't seen Yang since I lost your trails after last chapter's author's note._**

**_Mysterious Figure aka AN: [finally relaxes a little] Oh, Phew! Good. I'm pretty sure she's still...a little upset with me for what I _accidentally_ did to her last chapter._**

**_Ruby: You mean the fact that your spoiler prevention gag cut off some of her hair?_**

**_AN: I was going for a cream pie thrower, I swear! I don't know how I got the flying buzz saws instead, but no matter what I say, she still thinks I did it on purpose!_**

**_Sora: Well, to be fair, you do have a certain tendency..._**

**_AN: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! NO PLEASE, I BEG YOU! HAVE MERCY! [realizes who he's talking to] Oh, Sora. Never mind. Okay, who else is here right now? Seriously, I don't think my nerves or my heart can take anymore of you suddenly appearing out of nowhere today._**

**_Ruby: Pretty sure that it's just us for the moment. The others are all somewhere else in the building doing whatever. You know, like rehearsals for future chapters/scenes, hanging out in the arcade room, or just looking over their scripts before rehearsals._**

**_Sora: Though that still begs the question on whether or not you're going to freak out like that all day whenever someone suddenly comes up to you._**

**_AN: Until I hear that Yang has either been calmed down or restrained until she has calmed down, most likely, so let's start answering some reviews and get today's chapter started before anyone else comes in and makes me freak out like Donald Duck after he's received a particularly bad scare, shall we?_**

**_Ruby&Sora (aka RoseHeart): Sure thing. [blush upon seeing the extra name in parenthesis]_**

**_AN: Hehehe, aw, aren't they cute? [grins a little more when Sora&Ruby's blushes deepen] Ahem, welcome back everyone, to Remnant of the Key, and as you can all see, I have survived the gauntlet I had been facing after last chapter; the gauntlet that is...the wrath of an angry...Yang Xiao Long!_**

**_[audience laughter]_**

**_Oh ha, ha, ha. Laugh it up, but don't expect me to take that risk again any time soon. Even I'm not that crazy. Anyways, I said we were gonna answer some reviews, so let's answer some reviews!_**

**_Starting it off, "CT7567Rules", as I'm sure I've mentioned in the past, it's not always accidentally forgetting that I don't answer all of your reviews. It's more like there really isn't anything I can say in response to them. Believe me, I do appreciate the praise, but I can't always find a great way to express my thanks. Just know that I do appreciate it, even if I don't say it. Either way though, glad to hear you're loving the story so far, and don't worry, the excitement isn't going to end any time soon, even if this chapter is providing a bit of a break from the action, in a manner of speaking._**

**_Now, "Dragon Rider 66", while you're suggestion on what Sora's Semblance could be isn't bad, I can't help but feel like he can already do that, given that we always get a new Keyblade after clearing every world's story in the Kingdom Hearts games. To answer your question about the Big Hero 6 crossover matter, I've never really thought about it too much. It's just one of those things that have never really clicked many ideas into my mind at any point. And unfortunately, I have no plans on starting up any more stories at this time._**

**_Sora: Heard that one before._**

**_AN: This time I mean it! And I mean that I really mean it! Unless it's something like the Spider-Verse special for my Code Avengers series or something, I'm not starting anymore new projects for a long time. [pauses for dramatic effect] I hope. Either way, sorry to disappoint anyone who was hoping to see me try my hand at a Big Hero 6 story, crossover or otherwise. It's just not in the cards right now._**

**_Speaking of which, "Dracus6", I'm not going to be starting any new stories after this one, especially since I have very little to absolutely no knowledge about Fire Emblem Three Houses beyond what I've seen in commercials for it._**

**_Following it up with a response to "Monkey D. Conan", it's going to be a lot longer than you think before any of Team RWBY learn about Kairi, but I wouldn't worry too much about how it effects the rate of development in Sora and Ruby's relationship, or Yang's need to play matchmaker. Also, as far as Pyrrha's fate is concerned, I wouldn't worry about that too much. As I've mentioned before, I have no intention of breaking up Arkos. Those two are just so good together! Thanks for the suggestions on what I could do for Team SLVR's Semblances too; they're something I'm definitely going to take into consideration, but I'm still open to ideas, so everyone, if you haven't already, feel free to offer up your own suggestions at any time, at least until I reach a point where I do have Team SLVR's Auras fully unlocked at least._**

**_"GuestWithIdeas", you may want to double check the details on those facts of yours, but your additional proof is still good all the same. Glad you and so many others are approving of the fact that Jaune is more competent in this story than most people give him credit for._**

**_Finally, "Anonymaton", I can't blame you for not noticing that Weiss was left-handed right away. I actually had not really occurred to me until I rewatched a few episodes/battles she was in that had her taking a prominent role of some kind. In point of fact, from what I've noticed, there actually seems to be a lot of characters in RWBY that are left-handed besides Weiss, including both Ruby and Cardin. Trust me, I looked this stuff up just to be sure of it. As for the cookies you want to send up, just send them to "Studio of lyokoMARVELanime", and the guys will know where to go from there. Though at the moment, I think a need a few more tools for distracting Yang than I do Ruby, to be honest._**

**_Sora&Ruby: Ya think?_**

**_AN: No one likes a smart-alack, let alone two. Now, let's get onto the show for today, shall we? Onward to the adventure, everyone!_**

**_I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story._**

* * *

**Chapter 6: An Easy Day**

Ozpin was not having a great day right now. Things had started out rather simple and pleasant to be certain, even if it had included an unexpected visit from Jaune Arc. The young man had come up to his office with his head held high and a determined look on his face, all so he could inform the headmaster of something that others would have been very afraid to admit. Ozpin had let Jaune give his piece and listened intently as the young man confessed to how he had faked his transcripts in order to get into Beacon, and did not once interrupt, feeling that the boy needed to get it all off his chest first and foremost. When Jaune had finished, Ozpin ended up dropping quite the bombshell on the leader of Team JNPR by admitting that he had known all along that Jaune's transcripts were a forgery. Needless to say, Jaune was left surprised by this, and had not hesitated to ask why he was allowed into Beacon despite the fact that Ozpin had known about all of that from the start.

"There's only so much that you can learn about someone from things like transcripts, or applications, or any other piece of information that you can find on a paper, Mister Arc. When I'm looking through the various applications for students that wish to enter Beacon, I try to look beyond all of that; to see a hopeful student's character, and where they come from. I'm well aware of your family's history as it pertains to the world of huntsmen, but what you may not know, is that while your ancestors were all great warriors, they were even better strategists and leaders. It was my belief that you held that same, latent talent within you, and what I've seen and heard about you thus far, even before the first day of the term, has certainly proven my hunch correct," Ozpin had explained.

That definitely made Jaune feel better if his relaxed and reassured posture was anything to go by, and Ozpin felt that had settled things for the boy. What he had not expected was that before Jaune left, the boy would bring up the matter of the Heartless to him. Naturally, Ozpin had tried to play things off by acting like he did not know, as it would not do for that information to get out, until Jaune admitted that Team SLVR had told him and a few of their other classmates about the dwellers of darkness when they appeared during initiation. Realizing this, Ozpin went on to explain that while he did know about the Heartless, he had been sworn to secrecy by the person who told him for the same reasons that Sora and his friends had given the boy back in the Emerald Forest, and Jaune seemed willing to accept that. Of course, that brings things back around to why Ozpin's day had turned sour, because it was at that point that Jaune revealed to him that he and Cardin were attacked by the Heartless in the Forever Fall Forest.

As much as he hated to admit it, there were times when Ozpin was just as prone to the less fortunate tendencies of his friend Ironwood as the Atlesian general was, and chief among the list of those times was when the safety of his students was threatened like that. He was well aware that he could not always keep his students safe, seeing as they were being trained to become warriors that would battle against the creatures of Grimm, but the Heartless were just one example of a much different threat that he was not willing to expose them to if he could help it. It would not be as much of a problem if the Heartless had only appeared wherever the Keybearers of Team SLVR were, but hearing that some of them had not just appeared, but attacked some students while not a single one of Sora's team was around, at least at the time, was definitely cause for concern, and something that he felt needed a very drastic response. Hence the reason why he was currently speaking with Yen Sid via their old communication method at this very moment.

"They came here, Yen Sid. Not once, but twice," Ozpin reiterated for what seemed like the third time as he spoke into the enchanted mirror, hoping that his emphasis on the fact what somehow get a reaction out of the old wizard. "The first time I could easily pass off as just a matter of the Heartless following their nature and sensing Sora and the others, but the second time…They attacked two of my students, and I shudder to think what might have happened to them had Mister Sheru and Mister Firebrand not arrived when they did."

Yen Sid just stared back at Ozpin through the mirror, stroking his beard a little in contemplative thought, before he replied, "It is rather peculiar that the Heartless would suddenly become this active after all this time. While they will always remain so long as darkness exists in people's hearts, their appearances and attacks do tend to become much fewer and less likely after certain events have taken place, such as the recent Keyblade War."

"You almost make it sound as though it is the fault of the young Keybearers that they are here now," Ozpin noted with a small, albeit well-disguised glare. Yen Sid may have sent the boys to him, but they were still Ozpin's students, and he did not like it when his students were insulted in even the smallest of ways.

"That was not my intention, I assure you," Yen Sid calmly said. "However, I had hoped that they would not appear for some time so that Sora and the others may carry out their quest in peace. As for what could have spurned them into action so suddenly, my suspicion is only as good as your own, old friend."

"Still, I can't believe that it is merely a coincidence that they've appeared here twice now. I must insist that you send more of the current Keyblade wielders to Remnant at once, if not for the safety of my students, then certainly for the safety of my world," Ozpin almost begged, now truly feeling as though he sounded like James.

"Please, Ozma, calm yourself," Yen Sid requested, thinking that using Ozpin's old name would help him to see how frantic he was at this moment. When the headmaster remained silent afterwards, Yen Sid then revealed, "It would be unwise to send so many wielders of the Keyblade to Remnant if it is as you fear. You forget that the Heartless are drawn to those with the power of the Keyblade out of an instinct to destroy such individuals before they are destroyed. If we were to send several more wielders to your world all at once, there is no question that the number of Heartless on Remnant will grow exponentially in a very short amount of time. Though, that is not the only reason why I cannot send any more of our current Keyblade wielders to Remnant at this time."

While the first thing that Yen Sid said was nothing new to Ozpin, hearing that there was another reason certainly was, and a little worrying as well. "What other reason is there," he hesitantly asked.

"Remnant is not the only world that the Heartless have to prey upon, and recently, Masters Riku and Aqua have informed me that other worlds have suddenly seen an upsurge in Heartless as well. It is nothing too drastic at the moment, but rather, the sudden rise is similar to the rate of appearances that it seems your world has experienced. For the moment, we are taking a more cautious approach, and at this very moment, Riku, Aqua, and my former apprentice, Mickey, are leading efforts in patrolling the worlds for any further sightings of Heartless, with certain worlds taking higher priority than others," Yen Sid explained in full.

"The worlds that are home to the Princesses of Heart, you mean," Ozpin guessed.

"Both old and new," Yen Sid confirmed. "I know that you suspect that one of the New Seven Hearts is on Remnant, but given that Sora and his friends are already taking an extended stay on your world…"

"…I understand," Ozpin finally sighed in defeat as the communication between him and his fellow wizard finally came to a close. It was clear that even without the acts of caution that Yen Sid and the other Keybearers were taking, he would not be receiving any additional help from other worlds just yet, but all the same, it would have been nice if he was told that at least one of the current wielders, be it a master or otherwise, could be spared for the sake of Remnant. After all, aside from protecting the people, he still suspected that the fifth of the New Seven Hearts may be on Remnant, while Yen Sid had a strong hunch that the missing Kairi had been sent here after she was struck down by Xehanort, but then again, those were both only guesses for now. When you added in the fact that Sora and his friends were all likely to be here on this world for quite a while, it made sense why Yen Sid was not too worried. At least, that was the reasoning that Ozpin was trying to give in an attempt to reassure himself of his old friend's current plans, but even so, there was a small niggling in the back of his mind that was not quite as certain.

* * *

"Aw, yeah! Weekend's here, baby! Bring on the chill and the thrill," Lea was cheering at that very same moment as he rushed out the door of Team SLVR's room. Just because Ozpin's day was not going too well, did not mean that the same was true for everyone else, because it was in fact the weekend and many students were just itching to get their weekend plans started, much like the redheaded pyro. Of course, while Lea was ready to take a more relaxed, and likely wild approach to his weekend, others had been planning on taking a more responsible avenue for the start of their weekend.

"Axel, wait! We agreed we'd do our homework first thing before…" Roxas tried calling out, only for Lea to be out the door while slamming it behind him. "Aaaaand he's already gone. Great. I swear, him and Demyx always seem like they were competing for the laziest members in the Organization, and it doesn't look like he's ever stopped."

"It could be worse. He could've ended up burning all of his assignments as a show of how little he cares about them," Ventus said in an attempt to cheer up his friend. "Besides, you've still got us to study with."

"Actually, just you. I'm heading to the library to do some research," Sora informed them.

"But what about your homework," Roxas inquired.

"I did it last night before I went out for my usual late training," Sora revealed, surprising both blondes when he said that. "You guys probably didn't notice because you had joined Axel in basically celebrating that the weekend was finally here." When he heard no attempts at protest or denial from either one, Sora felt that was it, until he turned to see the shocked looks that they were giving him, and he quickly started to feel a little defensive. "What?"

"You finished all of your weekend homework already," Roxas asked.

"Yeah, that's what I said," Sora confirmed.

"_You_ finished _all_ of your weekend homework already," Ventus repeated, his voice more disbelieving than Roxas's.

"Yes," Sora nodded, now going from defensive to annoyed. "Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Because it's you," Roxas said, earning a scowl from the brunette. "Dude, don't take it the wrong way, but everyone knows you're a lazy bum. That wasn't just a playful nickname exclusive to…uh, your trio of friends from the islands."

While Roxas had managed to stop himself from mentioning Kairi's name, Sora still knew what he actually meant when he said that, and his scowl grew even more. "Time's change. People change," Sora informed him in a clipped tone of voice.

"Didn't you once promise to never change," Roxas asked, reminding Sora that he had full knowledge about certain events in Sora's past.

"I never said that they completely change," Sora pointed out with a huff. He then marched to the door and said, "Now, like I said, if you guys need me, I'll be in the library doing research. Namely, research that should help us in finishing the actual job we came here to do, or did you all forget that we aren't just here to attend classes and play huntsmen?"

Neither boy could say anything in response to that, but even if they did have something to say, Sora had already marched out the door for his destination. He had not meant to snap at the two in the way he had, but Sora was getting more than a little frustrated in how little they had managed to find in regards to Kairi since coming here. Nearly every day that he was not in class, studying, or practicing with his Keyblade, he had spent in the library or any other location that he thought could provide him with information that could be used in locating the missing Princess of Heart, and yet, no matter where he looked, the results were always the same: nothing. There was not a single news report or rumor about a strange girl with red hair suddenly appearing out of nowhere, not one picture of someone looking similar to Kairi, and not even a trace of any sign that Kairi was anywhere on Remnant, at least as far as Vale was concerned. Of course, Sora did not just look in one place and think that was it; he went back to some things so that he could check again on more than one occasion, only to be left just as disappointed as the last time he had investigated that avenue.

More and more, it seemed like he was not going to have much luck in finding Kairi in Vale, even with people coming into the kingdom for the Vytal Festival that he and the others kept hearing about, but then again, it was not like the students from other schools were due to arrive just yet. It was going to be a good amount of time before that happened, and if Kairi had chosen to enroll in one of the other combat schools like Team SLVR had, there was always a chance that she would be coming to Vale that way. Even she was not, there was still a chance that the students from those other schools had seen or at least heard about her, so Sora was beginning to think he would have to place his bets on that slim chance. That was not to say he was not already expanding his search to the other kingdoms, but there was only so much he could learn about Mistral, Vacuo, and Atlas, never mind the countries that they were all based in from Beacon's library or really any part of Vale in general.

Despite all of his previous set-backs, though, Sora was still determined to keep trying, because he was sure that Kairi was here on Remnant somewhere. He may not be fully trusting of Yen Sid, but he doubted the old wizard would have sent his team here on a guess, or at least not one that did not have a strong basis to it, so Sora just had to believe that Kairi was here. He was just about to the elevator when he suddenly ran across a certain huntress-in-training, her red cloak flapping behind her a little as she nearly ran into him. She probably would have too had she not noticed him at the last second and skidded to a halt as quickly as she could.

"Oh, hey Sora," Ruby greeted with a smile once she had straightened up again. "What're you doing?"

"Hey Ruby. Nothing much," Sora waved in return, his scowl now completely gone in place of a faint smile. "I was just heading to the library."

"Let me guess: you wanted to get your weekend homework out of the way, too," Ruby asked.

"No, I did it all last night, and yes, I know that's surprising," Sora said with a roll of his eyes. Before he could continue, he ended up stopping short when Ruby next spoke.

"Nope."

"What," Sora asked.

"Nope," Ruby repeated as simply as she had the first time. "You may seem lazy to some, but I can tell that when you set your mind to something, you don't quit until it's done."

"But what if it's something that's really important," Sora questioned, thinking back to some of the times when he and his friends were working on that raft they were planning to use to travel to other worlds.

"Mmm….Nope," Ruby said once again, her smile only vanishing when she paused to act like she was thinking it over.

Her response got a brief laugh out of Sora before he commented, "Thanks, I needed that. It's nice to know that not everyone thinks of me as a lazy bum. At least, not entirely." He then thought back to Ruby's guess and asked, "Were you planning to do your homework at the library, too?"

"Nope. I did most of mine last night, too. I was planning on leaving the rest for later tonight so that Yang doesn't have an excuse to try and drag me along to some of the clubs she likes going to," Ruby admitted without shame. "Blake on the other hand, did go to the library just a little while ago for that reason. Either that or to check out some new books to read." That got her a nod from Sora in understanding, since he knew that Blake almost always had a book with her whenever possible, and Ruby then asked, "So what were you going to do at the library?"

"Uh…just some research," Sora hesitantly replied, not really all too sure how much of the truth he should tell Ruby. It was a little odd, if Sora was being honest. He had never had a problem admitting that he was looking for his friends to others in the past, but for some reason he could not begin to fathom, he felt worried about telling Ruby anything about his search for Kairi. He just chalked it up to how he was not in much of a mood to talk about Kairi with anyone in the end, but that still did not explain the hollow feeling that idea gave him.

"What's it for? Some possible weapon upgrades you could give your Keyblade," Ruby guessed. Her eyebrows then scrunched together in thought as she reasoned, "Then again, your Keyblade's already pretty awesome as it is, so I doubt you would really be thinking about upgrading it."

Sora could not help but laugh again, and that seemed to ease his nerves enough to admit at least part of the truth to Ruby. "Actually, there's someone I'm looking for. A friend of mine who went missing a while back, and someone told us that coming to Beacon would help us find them."

"Have you had any luck," Ruby asked, feeling curious. Not that you could blame her. This felt like a much deeper look into Team SLVR's history than she could remember anyone ever getting up until now.

The sad sigh that Sora let out was answer enough for her, but that did not stop him from giving a more elaborate answer all the same. "Not yet, but I know that they're out there, somewhere, and I've gotta find them."

It was a rather vague answer, and he had not even specified whether this person was a boy or girl, but all the same, Ruby could tell that whoever it was that Sora was looking for, it had to be someone special. Not just because Sora wore his heart on his sleeve, even if that was a big clue, but there was something in the way that Sora spoke and the weight that she saw in his eyes that told Ruby just how important this friend of his was to him. Seeing that, Ruby did not hesitate in asking her next question. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Huh? I…I don't really know," Sora stuttered in response, having not expected that. "You don't really have to…"

"Sure I do. After all, a huntress helps others in need, no matter what the task," Ruby reassured him. "Besides, I may not be as good at gathering information as Yang, but I do know a few things that could help."

Sora thought that over for a minute, and while he was not entirely sure about Ruby's claim regarding Yang's information gathering skills, it was not like he had all that much to lose right now by accepting Ruby's help. Besides, there was always the chance that she could see something that he had missed. After all, two heads are better than one, so it was with a grateful smile that Sora nodded in acceptance, and said, "Okay, sure. Thanks Ruby."

"No problem," Ruby replied with a grin. She then suddenly seemed to become a little more nervous, as she asked, "And afterwards, do you think…I mean…would you want to…"

"Want to what," Sora asked, a little confused by Ruby's sudden change.

"Would you…like to come with me to do some maintenance on our weapons," Ruby finally rushed out. It may seem like she was copping out of what she really wanted to ask, but for Ruby, this was a pretty big deal, since she preferred to do most of her weapon maintenance alone. Not that she had a problem with other people being around while she did all the necessary checks and cleanings for her precious Crescent Rose, but she did not normally invite other people to join her with it aside from her family. Not since she finally proved she could do it on her own a few years back. In Ruby's mind, this was a really big deal, and certain people (Yang) would go so far as to say that it was Ruby's idea of a date.

Sora was left a little confused by the request, and was about to say no since he wanted to spend as much time today as possible looking for clues about Kairi, but then he thought about how long it had been since he last did any kind of work to keep his Keyblade in top shape, be it his original, default blade, or any of the various Keychains in his collection. Sure, he normally brought them to the Moogles when it was time for a check-up, but he had picked up enough from watching them work to learn how to do a lot of the basic maintenance himself. Plus, the last thing he wanted was for his Keyblade to end up breaking in half like Riku's old one had when he and Mickey first went into the realm of darkness to look for Aqua. Add in how cute Ruby looked as she waited for his answer, and Sora found it hard to give any answer besides, "Sure. It's been a little while since I've done any work like that on my Keyblade."

"Oh, great! Well, let's get going," Ruby sighed in relief, while on the inside she was cheering like she had just gotten the best birthday present in the history of presents.

Sora could only smile a little more, as if knowing what Ruby was thinking right now, but he said nothing as the two of them made their way to the library so that they could look up any information about Kairi. Besides, he had to think of what to tell Ruby to look for when they got there, because he felt it would be better to keep any information about Kairi a secret if at all possible for now. He just was not sure if he really believed that the reason for that was just simply because of the fact Kairi was a Princess of Heart and a fellow Keyblade wielder, and his questioning of that only grew as Ruby drew a little closer to him, almost to the point where their hands were brushing against one another.

* * *

Despite how quickly he had rushed out, Lea did not have any actual plans for what he would do on this day off from classes. Sure, he could search the city for any signs of Kairi like Sora was doing in the library, or maybe even see if any of the stores on Remnant had sea-salt ice cream, at least as far as Vale was concerned, but right now, he just wanted to kick back and relax for a little bit. After all, contrary to popular belief, he was actually working just as hard as the rest of his friends in their efforts to maintain good grades and their cover, while simultaneously looking for clues on their missing princess, but on the side, he was in fact looking around at all the ice cream parlors and other stores in an effort to find his and Roxas's favorite cold treat. When you add all of that up, you could see why Lea would want a day where he just took it easy and forgot about all of his responsibilities, be it self-given or otherwise.

Lea was still trying to figure out what to do when he ended up passing by the school's parking garage. He honestly found it strange that Beacon would have something like that, but since he had heard a few students had their own rides for getting around, it did start to make sense they would have this. As far as Lea knew, there were very few people who would want to part from their own personal method of travel if they could help it, and he knew that he and the rest of the boys were the same way, or at least, most of them were. He was not one hundred percent sure about Roxas, since the closest thing Roxas has ever had to his own ride was a skateboard, but he knew that Sora and Ventus were very fond of their preferred vehicles for traveling the worlds. None of that was what drew Lea's attention though; it was what, or rather who was inside the garage at this very moment.

There, next to a very impressive motorcycle, with a small toolbox at her side, was none other than Yang, and much to Lea's surprise, the blonde girl had actually tied her hair back in a bit of a ponytail in order to keep it out of her way as she worked. It was surprising because the last time Lea had checked, Yang always let her hair remain in the same, cascading waterfall of messy locks that he had seen it in since he met her, but when he considered how much she loved her hair, it did make sense that she would tie it back so that there was little risk of getting it caught in something while she worked on the bike. Speaking of which, from what Lea could tell, the motorcycle itself was very impressive, and he just had to go over and ask her about it.

"Sweet ride, Blondie," Lea complimented with a whistle once he was close enough for Yang to hear him. "Please tell me she's yours."

"You better believe she is," Yang confirmed with pride as she set her current tool aside and turned to face him. "Good ol' Bumblebee's my pride and joy, and the fastest bike in all of Vale, I'm proud to say."

"Sounds like you built her with your own two hands," Lea noted as he drew a little closer, admiring the yellow and orange color scheme that it seemed to share with its owner.

"May as well have with the all the work I put into her after I first got it," Yang admitted with a small shrug. "When I turned sixteen and got my license, dad actually bought this thing for me from an old, used bike place. The thing was a total wreck back then, and needed a lot more than just a little elbow grease, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. A few modifications here, a quick patch job there, throw on a new coat of paint, and then the next thing you know, Bumblebee not only rides like a dream, but she races like the best dream."

"Well, I'm now officially jealous, and not just because of the fact that you actually have a ride this sweet, either. Any time that Roxas and I had the chance to drive something even close to this cool, he'd always insist on doing the driving, and Sora and Ven aren't that different either. They all say I'm horrible driver, when the truth is that I just like to go fast when I'm at the wheel," Lea said with a grin.

"How fast," Yang asked with a grin of her own.

"As fast as possible," Lea replied, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Nice! I'm pretty similar, so that's why I spent a lot of my time at some races after I finally finished working on Bumblebee," Yang revealed. "I ended up dialing it back quite a bit after a while, but I still like to take her to her best every now and then, or when the situation calls for it. Ruby hates it when I do, though."

"Hey, at least she can't stop you from driving," Lea shrugged. "I swear, every time I even think about asking if I can drive, the guys all get into a panic."

"Just because you like to go fast? That seems a little extreme," Yang wondered.

"Well, there's that…and there might also be a particular story from a while back in which I may or may not have crashed pretty badly, and which Roxas always feels like he needs to tell everyone about," Lea admitted at last. When Yang gave him a look that made it clear she knew there was more to the story, he finally admitted, "Okay, so I totaled the first car that me and Roxas ever drove, but in my defense, it had been a long time since I had last driven anything, let alone a car that was as loaded as that thing was. Plus, I'm pretty sure that it had some kind of crazy mind of its own."

Yang just nodded, not quite believing the story, but not intending to call Lea out on it either. After all, she was not there, so she had no place in doing so. All the same, it did make her a little nervous about letting the redhead even pretend to drive her precious bike, but what it did not do was dissuade her from making a different call in regards to this. "Say, I was actually just finishing up with Bumblebee's tune-up, and was going to take her for a spin to make sure everything was in order. You want to come with?"

"Is that a rhetorical question? Hell yeah," Lea instantly replied. "I was just looking for something to do anyway, besides spending all day sleeping, I mean."

"You'd really want to waste a perfectly good day like this inside, sleeping," Yang asked in astonishment.

"Hey, if there isn't anything to do besides homework…"

"Fair enough." With all of that said, Yang quickly packed up the rest of her tools, released her hair from the tie holding it back while shaking her head to let it all fly freely, and grabbed both her helmet and her aviators as she climbed aboard. She then reached into a side compartment to grab a spare helmet, and tossed it over to Lea as she patted the seat behind her invitingly. "Hop on."

Lea did just that, but hesitated for a minute as he contemplated holding onto Yang herself or the back of his seat. He may have seemed like a confident ladies man, but he was not going to make any assumptions about what was acceptable in this situation. Thankfully, Yang seemed to have noticed this, and shot him a grin while saying, "You can hold onto me if you want. I won't bite…Much."

Lea just smirked in return as he wrapped his arms around the blonde, and with a quick rev of the engine, the two had rocketed out of the parking garage and down onto the road from Beacon to the city of Vale, both of them letting out excited cheers at the thrill from riding the bike all the way. After a while though, Lea called out over the wind, "So, was there anywhere in particular you were planning to go, or is this just a ride for the thrills?"

"I've got one or two places I wanted to stop at, but I doubt you'd be too interested in helping me with what's basically a few chores," Yang informed him.

"Hey, like I said, anything's better than just sitting at a desk doing homework," Lea reminded her, and that earned him quite the brilliant smile from the blonde as they raced onward into and through the city. If anyone knew what Yang had in mind though, some of them would probably have run away in fear of what these two fiery individuals may end up causing.

* * *

It had taken some searching, but Blake finally managed to find a book that really interested her on her most recent trip to the library, and she most certainly was not disappointed by her choice of reading material. It was quite the story, but at the same time, there were a few things in it that were oddly familiar to her in a few ways. Not in the sense that it seemed to reflect on things she had been through in her life, be it in the past or right now, but like she had seen or heard some things in the story somewhere before. She just could not put her finger on where. This mystery had made her contemplate finding a more comfortable seat than the desk chair she was sitting in at the moment, or just checking the book out for a little while so she could read it cover to cover a few times through in an effort to puzzle out the mystery, until she heard someone clearing their throat behind her.

"Do you mind if I grab a seat here? It seems like everywhere else is taken or just has a bunch of work piled onto the table to the point where there's barely any room for my stuff," the person asked, and Blake turned around to see Roxas standing there with a backpack slung over his shoulder.

Seeing that it was one of the quieter members of Team SLVR, Blake just smiled and indicated the seat across from her with a nod, granting his request, and Roxas was soon placing a few textbooks and notes on the desk so that he could set to work on his assignments. The two sat in silence for a little while, not really feeling a need to talk with each other all that much, until Blake finally noticed a fair amount of time had passed without any of Roxas's teammates showing up. It was not uncommon for a student to spend a long time without the rest of their team, or even their partner, but Blake had noticed that more often than not, Team SLVR tended to be tied together at the hip, especially in the case of Roxas and Lea, and if any one of them was on their own, it was either because of circumstances beyond their control, or it was only a short time before one of the others suddenly popped up. Since there was no sign of any of Roxas's friends showing up yet, Blake could not help but feel curious.

"Where are the rest of your teammates? I figured that they would've shown up by now to help with your homework," Blake asked once she had marked her place in her book, not seeing any reason to beat around the bush.

"Sora finished all of his last night, apparently, and Axel took off for somewhere this morning before I could say anything to get him to help out," Roxas explained. He then chuckled as he added, "Typical of the latter, surprising about the former."

"I can understand why you would consider Lea's actions typical, but why are Sora's surprising," Blake questioned, now feeling really confused.

"Sora's spent a lot of his life being a bit of a lazy bum, and only really getting serious when a situation especially calls for it, so I didn't really figure he would get any kind of weekend homework done until the end of the weekend. Haven't you noticed," Roxas questioned.

"Not really. I always got the impression that he was just as serious about this stuff as Ruby," Blake confessed. Her smile then grew a little more as she added, "It actually seems like those two were cut from the same cloth most days."

"Tell me about it," Roxas agreed with his own smile. He paused in his work though when he caught a glimpse of the artwork on Blake's book, and discreetly turned back to take another look, just to make sure he was not seeing things. Sure enough though, there on the cover of the girl's book, was an image that looked a lot like the χ-blade, and Roxas was now both worried and curious at the same time. "Where'd you find that book?"

"It was in one of the more out-of-the-way areas of the library's fiction section," Blake revealed as she raised the book up to better show it off, allowing Roxas to see that the image of the legendary blade seemed to be flanked by very rough pictures of a Shadow Heartless and what Roxas assumed was a Dream Eater, given what he had heard from Sora's descriptions of the creatures, and what he had seen from his time in Sora's heart. "The blade on the cover actually reminded me a little of your team's swords so I thought it might be interesting, or that it may tell me a few things about the legends that they're based off of."

"You don't say," Roxas mused. He then studied the cover for a few more minutes before he asked, "What's it called?"

"Well, from what I can tell, it looks like it's called _Back Cover χ Unchained: Age of Fairy Tales_, but it's hard to really tell. The cover's text is really faded," Blake admitted as she squinted at the cover, trying to decipher the title in order to determine if she was reading it right, while at the same time pronouncing the χ in the title as "kye" as opposed to "key".

"Interesting," Roxas quietly mused, still thinking on whether or not he should mention any of this to the others. Of course, he would need to know a little more about it first. "Is it any good?"

"Seems that way so far," Blake shrugged, but still happy to tell Roxas about her latest literary find. "The story seems to be about a time before the Grimm ever existed, and when people wielded incredible magic and swords that seemed similar to your Keyblades, until suddenly, there was a big fight that led to a war while giving rise to the first bits of darkness. From what I've read so far, it looks like the people were divided into several groups called Unions, all of which eventually ended up fighting one another for control of some incredible power until the world was destroyed."

"But then it was rebuilt through the light in the hearts of children, right," Roxas continued on for her in question.

"Well…yeah, that's actually the part I just got to. How'd you know," Blake asked.

"It sounds a lot like a childhood story that a friend of mine really loved as a kid," Roxas revealed. "A tale about how long ago, everyone lived together in one world, all bathed in the warmth of the greatest light to ever exist, until the first darkness was born in their hearts and they began fighting over that light. When the world was reborn through the light in the hearts of children though, it returned as several separate worlds that were divided by powerful walls, while that great light they had been fighting over remained asleep in the deepest darkness."

"That does sound a lot like what happened in the book, at least based on what I've read up until now," Blake admitted with a contemplative look. Her face then fell into a sad expression as she said, "I guess that just means…nothing good ever lasts forever, and is always meant to disappear into shadows."

"Actually, the moral of the story is just the opposite," Roxas corrected. "I may be messing up the wording a little, or at least not making it quite as good as when Sora or our friend puts it, but the real moral of the story is that, even if the darkness does prove to be too much and overwhelms us, there's always a light deep inside that never goes out. All you have to do is believe in that light and whatever grants it power, and then, darkness would never be able to keep a hold on you."

Hearing that did seem to cheer Blake up quite a bit if her smile was any indication, and the two soon returned to what they were previously doing. Roxas, so that he could finally get his homework done, and Blake so that she could find out if her book had a good ending, or at the very least, one that was as hopeful as Roxas indicated his friend's story seemed to be. Thinking on that, Blake chanced a small glance at the blonde from the corner of her eye, wondering once again about the many mysteries surrounding him and his friends. Out of everyone in their group of friends, Blake felt like she had noticed far more strange things about Team SLVR than anyone else, and she was still curious about some of the odd conversations she had manage to overhear from time to time.

Not only that, but she finally realized why so much of the book she was reading seemed so seemed familiar to her. The warriors in it were not using swords that were similar to Team SLVR's Keyblades; they were in fact using Keyblades. The way that the book described many of the weapons held just too many similarities to the incredible blades that Roxas and his friends used in battle to be a coincidence, and a few of the monsters that she read about them fighting seemed a lot like the Heartless that the four boys had told them about back in the Emerald Forest. Sure, it was a little silly to base some suspicions on a book she found in the library's fiction section, but all the same, she had seen Roxas, Sora, Lea, and Ventus all perform feats that seemed impossible or like something out of a story, so she had to wonder if it was possible that there was a connection between this book's tale and Team SLVR, be it in general or just in terms of their history.

* * *

While Ventus had wanted to get his homework done right away, he was not going to just jump right into it without making sure his mind was completely focused on the work, and the first full day of a weekend was never a time when he was able to get that focused on the schoolwork. He was just too busy thinking about a lot of fun stuff he could be doing instead, along with wondering about what his friends might be doing. Besides, it was not like he was waiting until the end of the day before starting his work when Sunday rolled around. He actually got right to work the minute he got up, and spent the day at his desk or wherever else he needed to be in order to finish until it was all done. By that logic, he was not being lazy like most other kids, just smart about knowing when he could or could not keep his mind in the game. At least, that was what he would say. Right now though, as he wandered about Beacon's campus, he was starting to think that maybe it would have been a good idea to actually do some work, because with Sora looking for clues about Kairi, Roxas studying, and Lea off doing who-knows-what, Ventus really could not find too much to do.

The blonde Keybearer had already checked in with Team JNPR to see if they wanted to hang out, but when he saw the intense workouts they were doing, he figured that it would be better to leave them to it. More accurately, when he saw the stuff that Nora was doing and trying to get the rest of her teammates to do, he got scared and ran off before she could try and drag him into it. There was no way he was going to risk his neck lifting weights as heavy as those _things_ Nora was somehow lifting over her head looked to be, especially since all the others were not even able to get theirs off the ground. He was pretty sure that he heard some of Pyrrha's bones breaking as she tried and failed to get them up. The strangeness of Team JNPR's powerhouse aside, Ventus's next idea was to track down the girls of Team RWBY, but so far, he had not had any luck, as they had already gone off to do their own thing as well, so he was left to just wander around on his own.

His wandering is actually what led him to one of school's other gyms, namely the one that many students would go to for running their own combat practice without having to go through the process of setting up an official match in the arena. Unlike the main arena, this one was set up with a closed-off firing range for target practice, and a few small fighting rings that would allow one to practice their skills alone if they wanted, or just have a less spectacular match than what they would have in the combat arena, and it was in one of those small rings that he ended up finding Weiss, all geared up and waving her rapier around in a delicate dance of skill as per usual for her. At least, it seemed that way at first, but Ventus quickly realized that she seemed to be struggling with something, though it was a little obvious to anyone just from the frustrated huffs and grunts she let out every so often. Ven on the other hand, noticed a few other signs, in the fact that her movements seemed a little stiff at times, and a bit more measured than they should have been, like she was just starting to use them for the first time and she was attempting to rush through it without getting a basic grasp of the basics.

At first, Ventus had to wonder if he should be watching this, since he knew that Weiss was not too fond of people critiquing her about her skills most of the time, and especially when it came to things she was only just starting to try, but that idea was quickly cast adrift when Weiss finally threw her arms down with one last huff, and turned away from where she had been facing as if she were planning to just rage-quit from the whole thing. That spin ended up allowing her to lay eyes on Ventus, and her face turned bright red in embarrassment soon after. "Ven! I…Uh…What-what brings you to…" Weiss stuttered at first, before she finally asked the question that everyone does in these situations. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Just a few minutes. Sorry about barging in on…whatever you're doing, but the door was open, and I was really just wandering around trying to find something to do," Ventus explained in an attempt to alleviate the heiress of any worries.

"Oh, of course. No need to apologize," Weiss accepted with a nod. "You just caught me at a rather…upsetting moment."

"Yeah, I seem to be making a habit of that," Ventus joked in return. Weiss only looked at him questioningly, letting him know that his attempt at being funny had gone over her head, and prompting him to explain, "Remember at the end of our first day? That talk we had out on the terrace regarding your early…frustrations with Ruby?"

"Right. Another one of my less than finer moments," Weiss recalled as her blush of embarrassment returned once again, even if she was smiling a little in return. She let Ventus see that smile a little better as she asked, "I don't suppose it would be too much trouble if I could ask you to assist me with this as well, would it?"

"I'd be happy to help you out, Weiss, but I'm not sure how much help I can be if I don't even know what it is you're doing," Ventus informed her. Despite this fact, he was already moving to stand in the center of the small ring with Weiss, showing that he was willing to at least try no matter what the case may have been.

"Of course," Weiss conceded with a small bow of thanks all the same. It still took her a couple of minutes to bring herself to really explain what she had been doing though, because this was not something she really shared with anyone outside of her sister. "I was working on my Semblance, or more accurately, another extension of it."

Ventus just nodded with a hum, recognizing how important this was based off of that remark, but it did not stop his next question. "You know, I'm not sure if I ever asked this before, but just what is your Semblance anyway? I know it has something to do with those glyphs you create, but nothing more than that."

"Hm…And here I thought most everyone knew about the basics of that," Weiss muttered to herself. "Well, my Semblance is actually a hereditary one that all members of the Schnee family possess, assuming they've had their Aura unlocked, and they're born into it. The glyphs themselves can have a variety of effects based on the circumstances in which they are summoned. For example, the basic version allows me form solid surfaces on which I can stand for a brief moment, or push things in certain directions."

"Like when you used them to help Ruby run up that mountain in the Emerald Forest," Roxas guessed.

"Yes, that is one example. Of course, there are circumstances that can change how my glyphs work, either by my own actions, or by whatever Dust I decide to combine with them," Weiss continued from there. "The best example being when I form the black glyphs to hold things in place once they're caught within the glyph. I can create those using Gravity Dust."

"Wow. Sounds like your Semblance is able to do just about anything," Ventus commented.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Weiss chuckled in a small show of modesty. At least that was what it seemed like on the outside, but on the inside, she was feeling a little down due to the remark serving as a reminder of one particular ability she was still a long way away from mastering. She pushed that aside for the moment, not willing to dwell on the matter for very long, and instead returned her attention to the matter at hand. "Right now, I'm trying to work on the variety that I can use with Lightning Dust: Time Dilation."

"Time Dilation," Ventus repeated in wonder, his mind having flashed back to the various versions of time magic, and the methods that were used to allow Xehanort to gather his thirteen darknesses.

Weiss merely nodded to confirm he had heard her right, and went on to explain how it worked. "Basically, with that ability, anything or anyone that's within the glyph when its formed has their actions sped up for a brief time. I've only recently started working on it though, so I can't really form them very well, and even when I do, it takes a lot of concentration and drains my Aura a bit more than I would like. Not by a great extent, but still a great deal."

"So is that why you're practicing with it more than the others," Ventus asked.

"It's…one reason," Weiss admitted. "I've just got to get better with this ability, otherwise there's no way that I would be able to effectively use it in battle."

"I see," Ventus nodded in understanding, and he really did. It did not matter how good an ability may be if it took too much time or energy for you to properly use it. In a real fight, things that require you to pause for a long time can prove very hazardous to both yourself and any allies you are fighting with, so it only made sense that Weiss would want to work on one of her newest abilities more than the others. He had a hunch that she was hoping to have this particular glyph ready for the Vytal Festival Tournament, and while that may still be a little ways off, that was no excuse to slack on training.

"So, do you think that you might be able to help me with this," Weiss inquired.

"I can certainly try," Ventus nodded as he watched Weiss get back into her previous position. "Just try not to get too frustrated if it doesn't work as soon as you would like. Keeping a calm mind will help you a lot more than getting upset, and not just in battle either."

Weiss nodded to show she heard him, and after spinning the revolver in her rapier to the right selection of Dust, she set to work. It took a few tries before she actually formed the glyph in the way she was aiming for, but when she did, Ventus was certainly impressed by its effects. The minute its effects had taken hold, Weiss was racing across the ring at a speed that he was sure could equal his own when he was using his Fever Pitch Command Style, if not slightly faster. Still, when it came to an end, he also saw how tired Weiss was afterwards, but despite that, she was still determined to keep going. In that moment, it seemed to Ven like Weiss was trying to prove something, but it was hard to really tell to whom that could be. He doubted that it had anything to do with the matter of who her team's leader was, but all the same, it was clear that it was important for Weiss to show she could do this. She did succeed in using the glyph a second time in a row, but she ended up nearly passing out a result.

Seeing her starting to fall to the floor, Ventus immediately raced over and caught her in his arms. "Easy there," the blonde soothed. "Maybe you should take a break and sit down for a little while."

"Yeah…Maybe you're right," Weiss panted in return, letting Ven help her over to one of the benches in the room so that she could properly rest.

Once he had her seated on the bench, Ven went over and retrieved her sword for her, resting it next to the girl after he came back. That earned him a smile of thanks from Weiss, showing she was happy he had not allowed her precious Myrtenastor to be left lying around in the middle of the floor like that, and that also helped her to relax a little more as well. "So…do you think I did alright," she eventually asked him.

"Are you kidding? That was amazing," Ventus praised. "I'm sure that you'll have that Time Dilation glyph master in no time, as long as you remember to not do anything that would make you pass out from exhaustion."

"I know, but I just have to get better," Weiss confessed. "I have to prove that I've improved the next time I see Winter."

"Winter," Ventus asked.

"My older sister. She's a specialist in the Atlesian military, and one of the best at that," Weiss explained, her voice brimming with pride. "She actually trained me in how to fight, and helped me to get a start on how to use my glyphs, and not just the basics, but all the other abilities as well. I've always wanted to be just like her someday as a kid, and I still want to be like her, but I felt like I could do better by enrolling at Beacon as opposed to Atlas's huntsmen academy like she did. Besides, Winter had made it clear on more than one occasion that she does not want me to enlist in Atlas's military right after graduating like she did. I guess it was mainly because she wants me to live my own life and not one that's basically just a copy of hers or anyone else's."

"Sounds like you two are really close," Ventus noted with a smile.

"Yeah, we are," Weiss admitted, though her expression turned a little less happy when she did, and Ventus did not fail to notice. Not that Weiss was under the assumption that he would. "When I was little, a very big rift started to form between my parents, and things ended up turning very hard for everyone in my family. Sure, I still had both parents, but really, I think Winter spent more time raising me than my mother or my father did. I'm glad that I had her, but that doesn't really make up for the fact that it seemed like my parents let the issues they had with each other cause them to apparently forget about me most of the time."

Now Ven felt a little bad. He had not meant to stir up less than happy memories for Weiss, but it seemed like he had done so anyways. Being so much like Sora, Ventus could not stand to let a friend feel sad for long, and decided that it was his turn to share something with her. "I don't really remember my parents," Ventus confessed, surprising Weiss when he did. "Of course, that's not really saying much, since I can't really remember much of anything past a certain point in my life. A while back I was hurt really badly, and it caused me to forget most of my past aside from my own name. It also led to me ending up in a coma of sorts, but when I woke up, I saw the two people who would become my best friends there next to me, both of them really concerned and also happy to see that I was finally awake. Ever since then, whenever someone asks me to tell them about my family, Aqua and Terra are always the first ones I think about before anyone else. We may not be related, but they are definitely like my older brother and sister in every other way."

"That's really sweet of you, Ven," Weiss complimented, really feeling the emotion that carried in Ven's voice when he said that.

Ventus did not really react to that comment, but that did not mean he did not appreciate her words. Not that it stopped him from continuing his story. "For the longest time, I always felt like I had to prove to them that I could stand next to them, or even help them somehow. You couldn't really blame me though, considering how often they would treat me like a little kid, even if it was just as a playful teasing most of the time, but still, it didn't stop me from wanting to show them that I could take care of myself. That kind of thinking actually got me into more trouble than I care to admit, or remember in some cases."

Weiss could not help but giggle a bit at his last remark. The idea of Ventus getting into any kind of trouble because of his choices did seem a little silly to her, and from the look on Ven's face, it was clear he was not bothered by her laughing. "Did you ever manage to prove that to either of them," Weiss eventually asked after she had calmed down.

"That's actually the thing. I don't think I ever needed to," Ventus admitted. "Aqua and Terra both taught me a lot of what I know, and they know just what I'm capable of and that I can get better with time and effort. If anything, I just ended up realizing that the only one I was trying to prove anything to was myself, because both of them know that I'll be there to help them in a heartbeat if they're ever in trouble, and I'll bet it's the same way with you and your sister."

Weiss smiled in thanks for that, but there was still something that bothered her a little about Ven's story, and she just could not bring herself to refrain from asking. "Do you…ever wonder about your parents? Or any of your family?"

A solemn look fell onto Ven's face at that question, driving a brief period of silence in between the two until he finally answered, "Sometimes. I love the family that I've built for myself, but…I can't always help but lay awake at night wondering…"

Hearing that made Weiss feel saddened for the blonde, while at the same time making her wish she had not brought it up. She had not really meant to make him feel sad, but from what she could tell, Ventus was not too depressed by the fact, just a little sad, like it was merely nothing more than an unfortunate fact that he had been forced to live with for a long time now. The next thing either of them knew, Weiss was gently leaning against Ventus, resting her head on his shoulder as an attempt to comfort him, and Ven returned the gesture by leaning against her as well and resting his head on top of hers, both of them content to just try and offer some form of comfort to alleviate the other's sadness for the moment.

The two were so lost in the moment that they completely missed seeing Sora and Ruby passing by out in the hallway. Normally, it would have been difficult to notice anyone passing by from where they were, but with the way Ruby was happily skipping along to the school's workshop with Sora following after her with a faint smile on his face likely would have made it a little easier if Weiss and Ventus had been paying attention. The only reason why Sora's smile was not a little bigger at Ruby's most recent display of her unique brand of cuteness was because their searching for anything regarding Kairi had once again led to nothing but dead ends. He probably would have even been sulking the entire way over to the workshop, if not for the rest of the day, period, had Ruby not been there to at least attempt to cheer him up a little.

A few more eager skips later, and the two were stepping into Beacon's workshop, ready to get started on their respective maintenance work. Looking around the place, one could see that it had a very typical set-up for a weaponry forge at its base level, but there were also plenty of other features to the room that made it really stand out and show just how high-class a school Beacon was. Everything that they would need for doing the easier jobs on weapons like Ruby's and the more finer operations work that would require one to get a more delicate instrument was here in this room, resting in a specific toolbox, on a workbench, or hanging up on the wall with other tools. Another quick glance about allowed Sora to notice that it looked like someone, most likely Ozpin, had even added in a few things that he recognized from some of the Moogle shops as necessary equipment for working on Keyblades, but it seemed that Ruby was not paying any of it too much mind, as she was already claiming a table for them to use while gathering what she needed to give her precious scythe a check-up, as she had put it earlier on.

Ruby then treated Sora to quite the impressive show of craftsmanship as she used every tool at her disposal to make various adjustments on her scythe, be it in the form of cleaning or repairing, all the while muttering little notes to herself about what did or did not work. Sora may not really get a lot in terms of highly technical stuff, but he was still able to tell just how impressive something was just from the small cues that a person gave off when they were talking about the matter or just performing the necessary work, and from where he was standing, Ruby was doing some really impressive work on her already amazing scythe. It reminded him of when he first met Big Hero 6 and helped them make adjustments to their equipment so that they could better fight against the Heartless, but seeing Ruby do all of this on her own somehow made this even more impressive than that.

Eventually, Sora felt that he had to give some kind of comment on the girl's work ethic and skill, but found that he could barely say much more than one simple statement that probably put it really mildly, at least in his opinion. "You're really good at this."

Hearing that sudden bit of praise, no matter how small it may have been was what finally broke Ruby out of the little world she had gotten lost in while she worked, but she still managed to follow the necessary safety precautions before turning her attention onto Sora so she could properly reply, even if it was with a slightly bashful tone. "Thanks. I've had a lot of practice and a really good teacher," Ruby admitted while brushing her bangs back a little out of shyness.

"Oh yeah? Who was that," Sora inquired, honestly curious about the people who had taught Ruby the skills that had helped her get into Beacon two years early.

"My Uncle Qrow, one of the best huntsmen to ever graduate from Beacon, and the best scythe wielder ever, period," Ruby replied with pride. "He used to be a teacher at Signal a while back before he started taking on some really big and serious jobs as a huntsman. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing, and now, I'm all like…Hooowaaaah! Witchaaaa!"

Sora could not help but laugh a bit at that last part, especially since Ruby did a few fancy little martial arts poses to go with her noises. Not that Ruby seemed to mind too much, given how she smiled a little seeing that he was amused, even if it was slightly at her expense. "So did he teach you all of your fighting abilities," Sora eventually managed to ask.

"Well, most of them, especially when it comes to anything relating to how to use my scythe, and all of this as well," Ruby replied, gesturing to Crescent Rose and the tools she was using at the moment to perform maintenance on the weapon. "My dad and Yang also taught me a few things in the way of hand-to-hand combat, but it's just…well, I wouldn't say I'm complete garbage at it, but I'm definitely not that great either."

"I can kinda relate," Sora admitted with a nod. "I'm not really able to fight very well without my Keyblade, or really just any kind of sword, and despite how poor my progress in improving is, my friends Aqua and Xion still insist on getting me to try and improve in that area at least a little." He then turned to glare off to the side as he muttered, "I can't believe Roxas forgot to mention just how good a fighter his girlfriend is even when she doesn't have a weapon, especially when it comes to magic."

"When it comes to what," Ruby asked, wondering if she had heard that last part right.

"Uh…Dust! When it comes to Dust," Sora rapidly corrected, hardly able to believe he had slipped up like that, hoping that Ruby would buy it, or that he would be able to divert her attention from the topic quickly enough. Thankfully, he did have a few ideas. "So, did your family teach you how to fight with any other weapons too? I mean, you must've learned how to use a few others since you like weapons so much, right?"

"Well, I did try out a couple of different things before I finally settled on my scythe, but Uncle Qrow did teach me a lot about how to use a sword as well while he was training me," Ruby admitted, seemingly forgetting about the odd thing that Sora had let slip just now, at least on the surface.

"Really? Cool," Sora grinned upon hearing that. "Hey, maybe you and me could have a sword match some time just so I can see how good you are. And if you want, I could even show you a few techniques that I learned too."

That made Ruby light up quite a bit, and she did not hesitate to accept the offer. Sure, she was better with her scythe than she was a sword, but her uncle did make it a point to make sure she was at least a little proficient with a blade, since it was one of the most common weapons among huntsmen aside from guns. If there was a chance Sora could help her get better, she was not going to pass up the opportunity. Thinking of that, Ruby felt that since he asked about her training, it was only right that she inquire about his. "What about you, Sora? Who taught you how to fight with your Keyblade?"

"No one, really," Sora revealed. "When it comes to most of my abilities with the Keyblade, I'm more self-taught than anything else. But as far as my swordplay is concerned, I learned a lot of that from my best friend, Riku. He's the best fighter back home, and actually became a full-fledged Keyblade master just a little while back."

"A Keyblade master," Ruby asked, not quite sure what that meant.

"It's basically a rank given to Keyblade wielders that have proven they have the skill, strength of heart, and the mindset to be a true master of the power that the Keyblade grants them. For a long time, I just thought it was title that was given to anyone who had a Keyblade, at least until Riku and I were asked to take the Mark of Mastery Exam," Sora explained. He could not help but frown a little when he added, "It still bums me out a little that we didn't both pass, but I'm really happy that Riku did. Even though…"

Ruby was not sure why, but there was something about the way that Sora trailed off at the end there that made her feel a little nervous all of a sudden. It almost felt like the room had suddenly turned colder along with Sora's eyes, and for some reason, she could swear that she saw a faint trace of true anger, if not hatred in them for the first time since she had ever met Sora. Sure, she had seen him get angry in the past, like when Weiss had been yelling at her on their first day, or when Cardin and his team were bullying others, but not like this. This was the kind of anger that was only directed at someone who you absolutely despised or felt had wronged you in a great way. Just as quickly as it came though, it disappeared again after Sora had blinked, and just like that, he was back to his usual, carefree self.

"Anyways, I should probably get to work on fixing up my Keyblade. I don't want to bother you too much while you're giving Crescent Rose her check-up," Sora happily informed Ruby, letting her know that the conversation was likely finished for now while he went to grab his own necessary tools.

Ruby was not necessarily complaining too much about the abrupt end to their conversation, but only because she did not like seeing Sora get upset, especially not in the way he nearly had just now. Even so, she would be lying if she said that there were not a lot of new questions forming in her mind about her friend, and Ruby was now starting to feel really hungry for some answers. Now was not really the time though, since she had no idea how long they would have the workshop to themselves like this, so she soon returned to her work once more. At least she was about to, until she realized she could not help but ask Sora about one last thing. "Hey Sora," she called, getting his attention again. "How big of a deal is it that you're friend became a Keyblade master?"

Even though she could still see a bit of upset feelings in his eyes, Ruby still saw a lot more pride in them as well when Sora answered, "He's now one of the youngest, if not _the_ youngest Keyblade master ever, a title that was previously held by Aqua. Pretty cool, huh?"

Despite not knowing all of the details that surrounded all the things regarding Keyblades, Ruby had to admit that did sound really awesome, and she found herself grinning along with Sora for the rest of their time in the workshop, each of them giving their weapons the necessary attention that they needed to stay in their best shape.

* * *

Loud rambunctious laughter was the sound that echoed throughout the parking garage when Yang and Lea finally returned to Beacon much later that night. What had started out as a simple drive around Vale had soon turned into a major night on the town with Yang showing the fiery redhead all of her favorite hang-outs. Of course, Lea had made it a point to request that they stop at as many ice cream parlors as possible along the way, but only because he wanted to see if any of them carried sea-salt ice cream. So far, he and Roxas had no luck in finding the treat on Remnant, but that was not going to stop either one of the two former Nobodies anymore than today's lack of success in doing so. He was not too disappointed though, because all the places Yang had showed him proved to be a definitely a huge blast.

The girl seemed to know where every club in Vale was, and was apparently well-known at quite a few of them, given how loud and excited the room got whenever she walked into some of the places. There were a few places in which they had weapons pointed at them as soon as they had walked in the door, but Yang just shrugged them off like it was no big deal, and the owners of those guns were just as quick to lower their weapons. Not that the warning glare Lea had thrown at the pathetic excuses for would-be-attackers was not at least a little help in that regard, but the way Yang had maintained such a cool and confident swagger even in the face of possible danger certainly left Lea feeling really impressed. Then again, most of those guys did not seem like they would have been anything much compared to the other students at Beacon, or any of the Grimm that Lea had seen Yang take down in the past for that matter.

The rest of their time was spent just hanging out wherever they felt like, having fun, and in some cases, dancing the night away, at least while they were at the clubs. Yang had even tried to get them some drinks at one point, but Lea had quickly shot that idea down since he knew for a fact that Yang was still too young to be drinking, and he was not too eager to start doing so either. He was not about to risk getting anymore on Aqua's bad side than he and the others already were if she ever found out that he went drinking. Other than what was basically nonstop partying though, the two had ended up talking for quite a bit. There were a few things that came up that proved to be a little serious every now and then, but for the most part it was really just small talk about whatever random thing popped into their heads, or things that could be categorized as nothing really in particular. In the end, by the time that they finally got back to Beacon, despite the late hour, they were still feeling really hyped up and like they were having the time of their lives, and only part of it was because of all the stuff that was just mentioned.

"Man, I haven't had that much fun in what feels like forever," Lea laughed happily once Yang had parked her bike and they both climbed off. "I mean, did you see that one guy's face after you sucker punched him?! I can't believe he actually thought he was going to get a kiss from you!"

"What can I say? I know what I've got, and so does anyone else with eyes. It's a blessing and a cruse looking as good as I do," Yang boasted while she struck a few poses to show herself off to the redhead. She dropped the sexy stance she was holding shortly after when she recalled, "But I'm not the only one who was awesome in that fight. I mean, you actually managed to burn off all of the hair on that one guy's body, including his eyebrows with a huge inferno, and yet all of his clothes somehow got nothing but some ash on them! How is that even possible?"

"I've had a lot of practice. Like, you wouldn't believe how many times I had to try before I could do that perfectly. It was funny seeing the other guy freak out afterwards, but it was also pretty annoying when I couldn't get it just right," Lea admitted with a sly look, mentally recalling the memories of how badly Demyx would freak out after being suckered into helping him with those practices. The only thing that amazed Lea more was the fact that the lazy sitar player kept falling for those tricks. "Seriously though, I think the last time I had as much fun as that was probably back in the earlier days of mine and Roxas's friendship."

Hearing that, Yang could not help but note out loud, "You know, a lot of your stories seem to include Roxas in them."

"Do they? I guess I never really noticed too much," Lea remarked, but the grin on his face made Yang a little unsure about how truthful that statement was. "Then again, it's only natural that would be the case, considering we're best friends, and all."

"Sure, but don't you ever hang out with anyone else? I mean, being best friends with someone doesn't mean you can't have other friends," Yang pointed out.

"Hey, I never said that it did, and we do have other friends to hang out with, but when you've known someone as long as Roxas and I have known each other, and been through as much as we have together, you can't help but find the things you do with them a little more memorable," Lea shrugged in return. "Of course, I'm sure that more of Roxas's stories would probably be about him and his girlfriend, but considering that she was his best friend too before they got into a relationship, and is still one of my best friends…"

Yang just hummed in response to that, glad to hear a little bit more about the redhead's past life and his friends, and that really made her all the happier to have had him along with her for her most recent jaunt around town in an effort to find her birth mother. Thinking about that made her go back to how Lea had taken her admission to her and Ruby being half-sisters in such stride, and not only that, but he had even offered to help her with trying to find her wayward mother in any way that he could. When she asked him why he would do that, Lea's smile had turned a little more melancholy as he confessed to knowing something about wanting to find a missing family member so that you could get some kind of closure about things at the very least, but did not elaborate any further than that. It was another tack that Yang had to put on the board of mysteries surrounding Team SLVR, but she did not think on it too much for the rest of the day afterwards; she had been having too much as it was.

Lea had enjoyed the time just as much as Yang. Sure, when Yang told him about the whole half-sisters thing, it kind of came out of left field for him, but it was not that big of a surprise in the long run. He had mentioned that the two did not really look like they were related when they first met, and this just provided him with the full explanation behind that. What he found more impressive was that Yang still cared so much for her sister despite learning the truth and wanting to find her mother, and it reminded him a little of how he still cared so much for Roxas and Xion after they started to figure out the truth about themselves so long ago. Sure, he had not handled the situation as well as Yang seemed to be handling hers, but the comparison was still there, and he would not let anyone tell him differently.

Pushing aside the less favorable memories, Lea turned to Yang just as they had entered the elevator out of the garage and said, "Seriously though, hanging out with you is a real riot. We should do it again sometime and maybe with a little more fun added into the mix."

"Why Mister Firebrand, are asking me out on a date," Yang teased with a wide, knowing smirk.

"That depends on whether or not you say yes, Miss Xiao Long," Lea shot back easily.

Yang pretended to think it over for a minute or two, honestly liking the idea of hanging out with the man next to her again with just the two of them. Really, she could see herself actually going on a real date with Lea, if for no other reason than to at least test the waters to see if the bond between them was just a fun thing or something worth exploring a little deeper, but she wanted to see if he would squirm a little as he waited for her to answer. When he showed no signs of doing so, Yang was beginning to think nothing would break his confidence, but then she noticed that his eyes seemed to be losing their brave gleam, and that was more than enough for her to finally give in and end his pain before it really started.

"It would be my pleasure," Yang finally nodded in return just as the elevator dinged to signal their arrival onto the ground floor of Beacon's main building. "Just make sure you're not late, because I don't like it when men keep me waiting."

"No worries there. I always make it a point to be earlier for stuff that's especially important," Lea promised. "So, next Saturday then, same time as today?"

"Sounds perfect," Yang agreed, and with that, she walked off with a proud swagger, not knowing she was putting a small sway in her hips as she walked that Lea could not help but follow with his eyes.

"Hot damn," Lea quietly whistled, hardly believing his luck. The grin he had on his face afterwards persisted all the way back to his dorm, where he found the rest of the guys already gathered inside of.

Seeing that look, Roxas could not help but ask, "What's got you so happy? You didn't set fire to anything in Vale, did you?"

"Maybe, but I can confirm that I've lit a different kind of fire today," Lea grinned in reply. When the boys only looked at him in a silent request for elaboration, the redhead's smile seemed to widen a little more as he revealed, "Guess who's got two thumbs and a date next weekend. This guy!"

"Oh really? And who, pray tell, is the _un_lucky lady that we should pray for," Roxas joked, easily ducking away from the retaliating fist that his best friend threw at his head.

Letting go of the remark that Roxas had made, Lea still answered the question, by saying, "Just Team RWBY's resident powerhouse blonde."

"Wait, you mean you actually asked Yang out today? When," Ventus inquired.

"Just a few minutes ago, after spending some time in town with her. That girl knows how to turn a boring, peaceful day into a nonstop party," Lea revealed.

The other three boys just quietly looked amongst themselves for a minute, making Lea think that they were going to poke fun at him again in a way similar to how they had back on the airship when he first expressed some interest in Yang. He was not entirely wrong, but at the same time, it was still an inaccurate guess, as Sora asked, "Okay, so it's been about…what, half the semester now?"

"I'm pretty sure it's closer to a third of it," Ventus corrected. "Whose guess was the closest to that?"

"I believe that would be mine, fellas," Roxas declared. He then extended a hand out to the two and demanded, "Pay up."

Sora and Ventus only grumbled and groaned in response as they reached into their pockets and extracted a handful of munny that was promptly slapped into Roxas's hands, much Lea's disbelief. "What weird thing is going on here," the redhead demanded.

"We just had a little bet going on about how long it would take before you finally asked Yang out," Roxas shamelessly admitted as he counted his spoils. "Ven said it would've been at least halfway through the semester, while Sora figured that it would have been a little closer to the end on the off chance you wanted to make sure to not get anything wrong with her like the hopeless romantic that he is."

Apparently, Lea did not find this funny at all, given that his glare was burning through them to the point that they were sure it was as hot as his flames, but in the end, he figured he would just get back at them later. Besides, it was not like he had room to talk, considering that he had started a betting pool with Roxas and Ventus about how long it would be before Ruby and Sora ended up getting together, if at all. Sure, the blondes were skeptical about whether or not it would happen, right to the point where Ven had even placed a bet on it never happening at all, but they were still willing to humor Lea, if for no other reason than to get him to stop bugging them about it.

Moving on from the topic of bets, Lea plopped down on his bed, and looked to his friends as he asked, "So what'd you guys do all day? I mean, you did leave this room at least once, right?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we did," Ventus confirmed, knowing that joking remark was Lea's way of saying he would get back at them later. "I actually helped Weiss practice with her Semblance a little bit."

"I was just in the library doing homework for the most part, but I did run into Blake while I was there," Roxas revealed, and from the look on his face, it seemed like this run in was a bit more serious than just a simple passing by. "She was reading quite the interesting book when I found her, and I think we should have a look at it as soon as possible."

"Seriously? We've already got enough books to look through as it is," Lea groaned, thinking that it was another boring textbook or something like that.

"This one's different," Roxas insisted. "I think it has something to do with the Keyblade."

"What makes you say that," Sora inquired.

Roxas glanced over to the door, almost as though he was checking to make sure it was closed and no one was on the other side of it, before he moved to close the window as well, just to be safe, and revealed to them, "It had a picture of the χ-blade on the cover."

That got everyone's attention, and killed the previously joyful and playful mood that had been in the room up until now. "Are you sure," Ventus asked, wanting to be absolutely certain that Roxas was not imagining things.

"The image was a little faded, given that the book looked really old, but I'm positive that I wasn't seeing things," Roxas confirmed. "Not only that, but from what Blake told me of the plot, it sounds like it might actually have some information on some old Keyblade history, like stuff that even Yen Sid doesn't know a lot about."

"That could be a problem then," Sora noted, earning him curious glances from the others that all questioned why he thought that. "If this book is something that anyone can find in the library, then there's a chance our cover may be at risk. It would only be a matter of time before someone started connecting the dots between that book and the origin of our powers."

"I don't think that would be the case. Blake said that she found it in an out-of-the-way spot in the library's fiction section, so there's a chance not that many people have found it until now. Besides, even if they did, it is still something from the fiction section, so they might think that we got the idea for our Keyblades from reading that book," Roxas reassured him.

"Here's hoping," Ventus shrugged in agreement. "Did you manage to get that book checked out?"

"Blake actually beat me to it. She seems really invested in the story, but she did promise to lend it to me the minute she was done," Roxas revealed.

"Well that's good news at least," Lea sighed, though he still had to wonder just how good that news was, given that he had seen Blake apparently watching some of them from time to time, almost like she suspected something. Hoping to put an end to the seriousness in the room, he turned to Sora and said, "Okay, lazy bum, what did you do today?"

"Just tried to find some clues that could lead us to Kairi's location on Remnant, and gave my Keyblades a bit of cleaning, repairing, and sharpening," Sora admitted. He left it at that for minute, thinking that the others would leave it alone if he did not say anything else, but his mouth ended up betraying him as he quietly muttered, "With Ruby."

It did not matter how quiet he had said those last two words, because the other three still managed to hear it, and they were all huddling around him with excited smiles that requested some extra details while promising that much teasing would follow even if he did not say anything. "I'm sorry, Sora, I'm not sure we heard that quite right," Lea said slowly, only for his voice to give away that this was a blatant lie. "I could've sworn that you mentioned a name just now. One that is normally attached to red hoods and roses, I believe?"

"Stop that," Sora ordered before the other two could even utter a word, showing that he was not buying the ignorant act even if Lea's faux innocent voice had not given it away. "You all know full well that I said Ruby. It's not like it's a big deal."

"I have to strongly disagree, considering that it seems you were spending a lot of time with Miss Rose just today alone, along with the fact that most of the time that you're not with us, you're most likely with her, assuming you're not doing any kind of work, be it for class or for your Keyblade training," Roxas pointed out.

"So? She's my friend. Is it suddenly a crime to hang out with friends," Sora asked.

"No, but you can't deny that you and Ruby hang out with each other more than anyone else. Besides, you just seem…I don't know, lighter whenever you hang out with Ruby," Ventus mentioned, hoping that Sora would not ask for him to elaborate on that. His wish was not granted.

"What's that supposed to mean," Sora asked, his tone both defensive and challenging at the same time, somehow.

"Well…uh…" Ventus stuttered, unable to really find a way to put it. When he continued struggling to do so, he immediately looked to the other two for help, only for Lea to back away while waving his hands in the negative.

Roxas on the other hand, did step up, and figured that while it would not hurt to be blunt about the matter, he would still not go in too deep either. "He means that you act more like your old self around Ruby," Roxas stated as simply as he could. "As in, the way you had been before the Second Keyblade War."

"Huh? What're you talking about? I'm still the same as I've ever been," Sora insisted.

"No, you're not, Sora. Ever since you woke up at Yen Sid's tower, you've been really distant from everyone and constantly training yourself to death, like the only thing that mattered was whatever the next fight or mission might be. The old Sora wouldn't have been like that. He'd get back up and brush his worries aside with a smile on his face that somehow reassured all of us that we'd make it through in the end. It wasn't until you met Ruby that we started seeing that side of you again," Roxas disputed.

Ventus and Lea were now getting a bit worried, feeling that Roxas was starting to poke a very dangerous bear by saying that, and it looked like Sora was prepared to prove that fear to be true, but thankfully, they were given a last minute save. Just as Sora was opening his mouth to retort, a familiar ringtone reached their ears, and they all knew that it was not coming from any of their Scrolls. Reaching into his pocket, Sora quickly extracted his Gummiphone to see that they were getting a call from someone, and immediately waved for everyone to gather around as he tapped the icon on the screen in order to answer. Not that he missed how Lea was muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "saved by the bell," mind you.

Sora's smile quickly returned though when he saw the face that appeared on his Gummiphone's screen upon answering, because it turned out to be his best friend who was calling them. _"Sora! I'm glad you picked up,"_ Riku said when he saw that his call was answered. _"I was a little worried that I would have to leave a message or that I might've been calling at a bad time."_

"Hey Riku, and no worries. You're timing couldn't be better. We were all just about to call it a night," Sora greeted as he informed his friend of the team's current status.

_"So the others are all with you,"_ Riku asked.

"Yep, all present and accounted for, oh mighty Master Riku," Lea joked with a lazy salute in greeting, while the other two just smiled or waved to show they were there too.

_"Good. That makes things a little easier then,"_ Riku sighed in relief, confusing the others as to what he would mean by that. Thankfully, Riku did not waste any time answering that unasked question. _"We need your help."_

The minute he heard that, Sora could start to see where this was going, and he instantly frowned as he told his friend, "Riku, I thought I made it clear to Yen Sid that we weren't leaving Remnant until…"

_"I know, I know, and I wouldn't have called if it wasn't important, but this definitely counts as important,"_ Riku interrupted, reassuring the four that he had not made the decision to contact them without thinking it over.

Looking between one another, the boys all recognized that they had picked up on the urgency in Riku's tone, along with the truthfulness that it carried when he said that this qualified as important enough to involve them, so they had no problem in hearing him out. "Well, don't leave us in suspense, pal. What's going on," Roxas asked.

Riku's response was a very simple one, but even with the few words he said, Team SLVR was still left incredibly worried once they heard the news update he had for them. _"The Heartless are on the move, and in a much more aggressive way than what's considered as normal for them as of late."_

Having had a couple of odd encounters with the Heartless already since coming to Remnant, the four could admit that they probably should have realized that Riku's call had something to do with the dark creatures, but that did not make hearing it any less worrisome. Sure, they knew that the Heartless were never really gone for good, but they had hoped that they were at least pushed back enough for the rest of the Keyblade wielders to handle on their own. What made Riku's news more worrisome though was the fact that he had confirmed for them that the Heartless were suddenly becoming more active on all the worlds again, and not just on Remnant, either. Add in the fact that Riku had said that it was in a more aggressive manner than usual, and they all had to agree with the first thing that Lea said after hearing this. "Should've known that a peaceful day like today would've been just the calm before the storm."

* * *

**_AN: I'll be honest, I feel like this chapter is a bit shorter than the last few, but considering the content of this chapter, I probably shouldn't be too surprised. It is mostly original content, and really geared more towards furthering more than a few connections and relationships between characters than anything else. That said, just a few quick bullet points, Sora and Ruby are getting closer, despite the fact that Sora's still not saying anything about her to Kairi, even though she had helped him with trying to find clues about her without knowing who he was looking for, we got a cute little Windchill moment there, and oh, look at that! Lea's asked out Yang! That didn't take long at all, now did it?_**

**_Ruby: Well, it's not like they've officially become a couple or anything yet._**

**_AN: A very excellent point Ruby, but the fact that they are planning to go out on a date is still a pretty big thing, in the opinion of some people. Not to mention it helped Roxas to win a bet. Yeah, I did include that in there to be funny, and it was. Plus there was also that moment between Blake and Roxas to look into as well._**

**_Sora: You mean the one part where they were talking about that book that Blake had found, right?_**

**_AN: Exactly! Just to be clear, yes, Blake's book is about the Age of Fairy Tales, aka the time of the Foretellers and their Unions, as well as the unions that came after, hence the title of the book. I'm sure most of you had already figured that out on your own, right? And before any of you ask, yes that does have the added benefit of helping Roxas form a stronger connection with Blake for later on in the story. Namely when a certain event from Volume 1 of RWBY occurs, if you get my meaning. Plus, there may or may not be a chance that having that book in there could be foreshadowing to events that are going to come about later in the story, just like many, if not every fairy tale we've heard about in RWBY has so far._**

**_All-in-all, our heroes seemed to have had a very good day...only to have that day ruined when Riku called them about the Heartless. Yeah, they're always going to mess things up when they're going good for our Keyblade wielders, huh? But look on the bright side, at least you guys will see some nonstop, no-holds-barred Keyblade action next chapter! But that won't be all that we get next time. Here's a few ideas on what you can expect: Onto the Preview!..._**

**_Upon getting additional details about the recent activity regarding the Heartless and their friends' plans on how to respond to them, Team SLVR is ready to leap into action once again, and quickly fly the stealth gummi ship to the world that they were asked to protect. What they don't expect is that a certain group of huntresses end up accidentally stowing away on the ship, or that they would end up in battle against a Demon Tide upon arriving at their destination. Now, they not only have to worry about the Heartless, but also how they're going to explain away all of this to their friends from Beacon. Too bad it's looking like they'll have no choice but to come clean and admit the truth, and that won't even be the worst thing that the boys will have to deal with. Find out what their first mission to another world since coming to Remnant will lead to, and whether or not the two teams will survive their encounter with the powerful Heartless, next time._**

**_Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy._**


	7. Key Exposure

**_AN: Okay everybody, as you can see, I've still avoided the horrible fate that is death by Yang, and I know some of you are probably hoping for some funny gags and such further showcase this fact, but today's chapter is a long one. And I mean a really, _really_ long one, so I'm just going to answer a few reviews really quick and get right into things._**

**_First off, to "Spiderfan626", Glad you like the story and the RWBY series, be it main or chibi so far, and I do agree with you that Sokai will always be number 1 when it comes to KH pairings, but like you, I can still see the RoseHeart ship happening. Honestly, if I had to pair Sora up with any other character in a crossover, Ruby Rose is the only person I can honestly say that I would be willing to pair him with. I mean, sure, there are some that make a good case for Weiss, but Ruby just makes more sense in my book._**

**_Next, "Monkey D. Conan", Blake's still blushing from the flattery you sent her in your last review, and Ruby's currently inhaling all the cookies you sent. Meaning they both say thanks for all of that. As far as your questions go, all I can say is that at least a few of them will be answered in this chapter, while I will confirm that Sora and the others will be bringing their friends from Remnant along to other worlds later on in the story. It won't stop with the one they go to here. Also, love the suggestions on jokes that Yang could make in the future; gonna have to keep those in mind for later on._**

**_"SuperSaiyanFever", this is Sora we're talking about. He wouldn't even think of going for a threesome even if he could handle it._**

**_"Anonymaton", I actually am a little interested in that Anti-Dumbfool mech suit, (And yes, I am sticking with that nickname for the rest of my life), Ruby got the cookies and is wolfing them down with the ones she got from "Monkey D. Conan", and thanks for the suggestions on how to avoid any further injury on my part from Yang._**

**_Okay, that's a wrap on the reviews, time to get things started._**

**_Ruby: Hey lyoko, have you seen Yang? I can't find her anywhere._**

**_AN: Ruby, you're sister currently still wants to kill me. If I had seen her, do you really think I'd be sitting here right now, getting ready to start this very long chapter?_**

**_Ruby: But someone told me that they heard some really weird noises while you were trying to seal one of the closet doors closed earlier today. And I heard that back when you were working on the Gundam SEED Prime triology, you sometimes locked cast members in the closest in order to avoid them killing you._**

**_AN: Ehehehehehe...I have no idea what you're talking about._**

**_[loud banging and muffled grunts and screaming can be heard from somewhere in the hallway]_**

**_Ruby: What was that?_**

**_AN: [looking a little panicked] Uh nothing! That was just the...cat! Yeah, the cat! I haven't had a chance to feed him today. I'm gonna go do that right now while everyone reads the story. [rushes out the room before coming back in for a few seconds] Disclaimer! [rushes out again]_**

**_I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story._**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Key Exposure**

Of all the things that they had expected to hear in the first call they received from their friends on other worlds since coming to Remnant, a request for help in dealing with a sudden Heartless uprising probably was one of them, but it still came off as shocking for Team SLVR all the same. Despite this, they were not about to ignore the call, even if it did mean that they would need to leave their current mission for a short time. At least, Roxas, Ven, and Lea were willing to do so, but they were a little uncertain as to whether or not Sora would feel the same. Sure, he had said that he would leave Remnant if it was really important, but saying and doing were two very different things, and after all that had changed about him recently, they had a hard time believing that Sora would follow through on that promise. Thankfully, they were able to breathe easier when the spiky haired leader asked Riku for more details on the situation, proving that he was at least willing to hear him out before making a final decision on whether they join or not.

_"As I'm sure you all already know, ever since the end of the Second Keyblade War, and once everyone was rested enough, all of us who have a Keyblade have taken to patrolling the other worlds, or at the very least the ones that we've visited before, in order to keep an eye out for any sudden returns of the Heartless or any other creature that we had battled in the past,"_ Riku started off once Sora and the others had all gotten into more comfortable seating and made absolutely sure that no one could listen in. _"At first we didn't find very much, and while none of the Unversed have been sighted since Vanitas was destroyed, the few Heartless and Nobodies we did run across were not much more powerful than some of the more basic varieties, like Shadows, Neo Shadows, and Dusks."_

"What about Assassins? Have any of those appeared? Or the Samurais," Lea questioned. The others all glanced at him questioningly upon hearing his inquiry, to which he explained, "Those are the Nobodies that answered most directly to me and Roxas back in the old days, and afterwards, if they weren't just wandering around, they were following orders from the rest of the Organization like a basic Dusk, so I can't help but be curious."

"Do all lesser Nobodies just wander about when their master leaves or is destroyed," Ventus asked, feeling curious about the matter since all the members of the Organization that commanded a special variety of Nobody had been defeated for quite some time now.

"For the most part, as far as I know," Lea shrugged in admittance.

_"Either way, we haven't run into any of them. To be honest, we've seen more Heartless than anything else,"_ Riku admitted. _"Of course, those few times we encountered any of them were still pretty rare, until a few months ago. It wasn't really too bad at first, just one big group of Heartless on two or three of the worlds we checked in on, but recently, something seems to have changed."_

"Changed how," Sora asked.

_"On some of our last few patrols, every world we went to had at least one big group of Heartless, and not just the basic variety, but all manner of them, especially in the case of ones that seemed to be very specific to that world. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but then, we started encountering a few old boss-level Heartless as well on some worlds, and a little too frequently as well. What's worse is that nearly all of them were even more powerful than they were before, or were ever known to be able of becoming. Terra learned this firsthand when he ran into an Opposite Armor on San Fransokyo, and found that it was capable of changing into a Guard Armor at any time it desired, while also possessing capabilities that were more common of a Red Armor."_

"Heartless boss being stronger and able to do things it couldn't do…Why does that sound familiar," Lea asked sarcastically while the rest of his team gained looks of recognition at the notion.

Riku on the other hand had no idea why they were all reacting that way, and had naturally asked, _"Have you guys had a similar encounter?"_

"Yeah, months ago when we were in the middle of the initiation exam for Beacon," Roxas replied. "The Heartless suddenly appeared and attacked both us and some of the other students, and they were being led by a Darkside that was a lot more powerful than normal. We figured that it was just a random, freak occurrence, or that something about Remnant had a weird effect on the Heartless at the time."

_"Well it looks like that isn't the case, because it's happened a few other times as well, and not just that time I mentioned with Terra,"_ Riku revealed. _"Aqua, Mickey, and I all had some experience dealing with a Heartless boss that we had faced in the past with more power and abilities than what it had before, and even Xion and Naminé had come across at least one when they were checking in on things over at Radiant Garden. Thankfully, that one hadn't gained too big of an upgrade, and it wasn't as powerful as some of the others, but it's still reason enough for us to worry, especially since Radiant Garden hasn't had any problems with the Heartless since Ansem the Wise had finally perfected that defense system that the Restoration Committee had set up. Add in the fact that we've had so many encounters like that happening one after another, and I think you can all understand why we're concerned."_

"So what's the plan? We can't just leave and help you guys patrol the worlds at random. We've got a lot of work to do on Remnant, both in terms of our main reason for being here, and in terms of the stuff they've got us doing as students at Beacon," Sora questioned while pointing out the flaws in the most obvious of plans.

_"Don't worry, Sora. We're not at that point just yet,"_ Riku reassured his friend. _"As we speak, Ansem is working on a new kind of scanning system that would allow us to know in advance when a Heartless infusion like the ones I just mentioned will take place, and on which world. That should help us to figure out exactly where we need to be a little easier than just looking around each world at random would, while also helping to let us know if and when some of the most important worlds fall at risk. The only problem is that it's going to take him some time to finish, so until then, we need to keep a constant watch on those important worlds I just mentioned."_

"And what exactly would qualify as an important world," Ventus asked, not really liking the phrasing of that statement. The others could understand, since they figured that all worlds were just as important as another, even if they did not have anything of significance on them aside from a few friends they had made while there.

Riku must have picked up on this, because the first thing he said was, _"I know how you guys feel, but if we can't save all the worlds, then we should at least protect the ones that have something of greater value than the others, and after talking it over with Mickey, Yen Sid, and Aqua, we all came to an agreement on just which worlds made that list. I doubt I need to mention the obvious, but the worlds of the Princesses of Heart do make the list, and despite the fact that the last group has already passed on their light to a new seven, there's still a chance that someone may think that they retain at least some of their former powers. That's why we're including the worlds of both the old and new seven hearts. Yen Sid's tower and King Mickey's home are both worlds that could be considered as important, but they've got their own special protections to keep them safe."_

"Namely Yen Sid's magic and the Cornerstone," Sora cottoned on.

_"Right, so all that's left is any world that could most likely serve as a safe refuge for people who have lost their world,"_ Riku continued on from there. _"Obviously Traverse Town is one of them, but from what we figured, Radiant Garden and Twilight Town could just as easily serve as worlds that people would be sent to if their homes were lost to the Heartless. The Land of Departure is also an especially important world to be keeping an eye on, but Aqua has insisted that she placed quite a few magic spells on its world barrier that would ensure its safety."_

"What about Destiny Islands? That seems to ping on a lot more people's radar than most people give it credit for, considering," Lea asked, only trailing off at the end since he felt that the rest of his comment did not need to be said.

It really did not need any further clarification, as they were all well aware of just how interconnected Sora and Riku's home was to the events of the past few years, and everything else that was involved with Xehanort. Of course, they all found themselves in for quite the surprise when Riku gave his answer. _"I've been keeping an especially close eye on the islands ever since we started to see more Heartless on the other worlds, but for some reason, they've never appeared there. It's like the islands are suddenly no longer considered as big of a target to them, or the world has somehow become much more protected since it fell to darkness a couple years ago."_

"What does it matter either way? If the islands are safe, that's all there is to it, right? It's all the other worlds that Riku listed that we need to be more concerned with," Sora told the others. Sure, it may have come off as a little cold, but the boys could still see that Sora was very relieved that his home was being spared from any repeats of the horrors it had been subjected to on the night he had first gotten the Keyblade. Sure, it still hurt that he had to trust it would stay as safe while he protected other worlds, but after his last adventure, Sora was able to better understand that you could not always take action based off of your feelings alone. Not that he liked this fact, but that was a matter for another time. Right now, he had a much more important question to ask. "So where do you need us?"

Hearing that question from his best friend made Riku smile a little more, as he took it to be a sign that the old Sora really was still in there, and he then went on to explain everyone's assignments. _"At the moment, Mickey, and I are keeping watch over Traverse Town, Arendelle, and the Kingdom of Corona, while Terra and Donald are looking after Enchanted Dominion, the Dwarf Woodlands, and the Palace of Dreams. Xion and Goofy are taking care of things in Agrabah, Beast's Castle, and Wonderland right now, and finally, Aqua and Naminé are prioritizing Radiant Garden for the moment."_

"Whoa, whoa, hold on a minute. How come Aqua and Naminé are the only ones that are just given one world while the rest of you have three," Ventus questioned.

_"Part of it is because Naminé's still new at wielding a Keyblade, and the other part is because Radiant Garden is probably one of the largest worlds that any of us have ever been to. Not to mention that even with all the magic she's placed on the world, Aqua still wants to keep a close eye on the Land of Departure, even with Yen Sid promising that he would look after it for her while she's away."_

"And when you add in the fact that it's Ansem the Wise who's making that fancy scanner for us, it would be better to have someone on his world full-time instead of having them split their time between there and another world," Lea pointed out. This time when the others gave him looks of surprise, he felt a bit more insulted, and huffed, "What? Just because I'm normally the type to just rush in and burn through things doesn't mean I don't know how to recognize important stuff like that, too."

"Either way, from the sound of things, there's only one world out of the ones you listed before that doesn't have anyone protecting it, and I'm guessing that's where you all want us to go, right," Sora picked up.

_"Yep. As soon as you guys can, we need you to head for Twilight Town. Like I said before, it's just as likely to serve as a refuge world as Radiant Garden or Traverse Town, but more than that, there's also the fact that Ansem's old computer is still there, and there's no telling what could happen to any data that's left on it if the Heartless were to find and destroy it,"_ Riku confirmed.

"Alright, then we'll head out first thing tomorrow morning after we tell Professor Ozpin about the situation," Sora agreed, and after a few final exchanges and farewells, the conversation came to an end, allowing him to hang up. Looking to his team, Sora could not help but grin a little and say, "Looks like we're getting an unofficial first mission as huntsmen, boys."

"Maybe not as huntsmen, but definitely as a Beacon team," Lea joked with him, with both of the other two smiling along in equal agreement.

"Either way, we'll be ready for it, so bring it in, boys," Sora prompted as he extended his hand out, silently asking for a hands-in moment. Feeling that it deserved, the other boys all placed their hands in, one on top of the other, until they were all in, at which point, Sora declared, "All for one, and one for all!"

What Sora did not expect, was that saying that last bit would cause the others to all look at him as though he had just killed the moment, or for Ventus to say, "Yeah, Sora, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm pretty sure none of us want that to be our battle cry, or whatever you want to call it."

"Why not," Sora asked.

"Because that's more of a thing that you do with Donald and Goofy, or even those guys and Mickey," Lea stated. He then waved around the group and asked, "Do any of us look like one of those three to you?"

"Well then, what would you guys recommend," Sora asked after he pulled his hand back. It was just going to get awkward if they continued to stand there like that while having this conversation.

"I don't know, how about 'Let's strike silver,'" Roxas suggested.

"That sounds like something we'd say if we were going to fight ourselves," Lea dismissed, with Sora nodding in agreement. "Maybe… 'Time to burn through the night.'"

"Sure, we could use that, if we were all as crazy about using fire in our battles as you were," Ventus argued, getting nods of agreement from both Sora and Roxas, and prompting Lea to cross his arms in a huff. "Oh! I've got one! 'Brilliantly aligning for a silver shining!'"

"…That sounds dumb," all three of the other boys chorused as one.

While Ventus hunched over in pitiful sadness, Sora placed a hand to his chin, thinking hard about a few ideas of his own, until he finally snapped his fingers. "I've got it! How about… 'For life and light, together we fight!'?"

The others were all silent upon hearing that suggestion, and unfortunately, Sora could not tell if it was because they were letting that stir in their minds for a minute, or if they were just preparing to shoot it down like the other ideas thus far. He soon breathed a sigh of relief when they all smiled excitedly, and Lea said, "Yeah, I like the sound of that."

"I can get on board with it," Roxas agreed.

"It's perfect," Ventus praised.

"Alright then, let's try this again," Sora prompted, holding his hand out so that the others could put them in once more. The minute that the last hand was on the pile, Sora started off by saying, "For life and light…"

"Together we fight," the boys finished as one, and after pulling back briefly, they all shared a group fist bump with one another, sealing the deal on their new battle cry, and with that, they all went to bed with excited smiles on their faces, eager for the mission that awaited them tomorrow.

* * *

The following morning, Ruby woke up feeling really happy. Then again, she had gone to bed feeling really happy for some reason beyond her comprehension. All she knew was that it probably had something to do with how she had spent the entire day with Sora. Sure, they did not do all that much aside from looking for clues that could help with finding his missing friend, and later on, some simple repair and maintenance work on their weapons, but despite how simple, routine, and all around boring those tasks normally would have been, Ruby had found herself having a great time. In fact, she could not remember the last time she had that much fun doing regular maintenance work on weapons with someone else, and it left her feeling really eager to spend more time with Sora. Then again, she had found herself wanting to spend a lot of time with Sora since they first met, and over time, the idea of hanging out with him started to give her an odd tingly feeling in her stomach. She was pretty sure that it was not any kind of sickness, or at least none of the kinds she had in the past, but it was still odd all the same. It was like she was both excited and nervous at the same time, and she had no idea what to make of it.

The only thing that did make sense was that it seemed to only grow a little more intense around the spiky haired boy, so Ruby came to the logical conclusion that she could finally get an answer to what this sensation was if she spent as much time with Sora as possible, hence the reason why she was currently skipping through the halls of the dorm building in an effort to find him. Well, part of the reason anyway; the rest was just because she really liked spending time with him. The only problem was that she could not find him right now. The entirety of Team SLVR seemed to have vanished after breakfast that morning, and so far, Ruby had no luck in finding them, even after looking in all the places that she and others had all known the four to normally be found.

Her search finally came to an end when she spotted Sora coming out of his dorm room, looking like he was in a hurry. "I can't believe I nearly forgot to grab those Elixirs before we headed out," he muttered, or at least, that is what Ruby thought she heard him saying as he apparently scolded himself.

Not that it really mattered either way. Ruby had finally found her target, and quickly rushed over to talk with him. "Hey Sora," she called out, startling the boy in her approach. "Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you."

"Oh, no big deal, Ruby," Sora brushed off, even though he still had a nervousness about him that Ruby could not ever remember seeing before.

Ruby just shrugged it off for now, determined to follow through on her mission, and decided to just get to the reason why she was looking for him. "So, do you want to hang out again today? I could use a study partner, and you could probably tell me a little bit more about the whole Keyblade stuff," Ruby asked, hoping that he would say yes.

"Oh…I would, but…I've got something I need to take care of right now. Might take most of the day," Sora stuttered, slowly making his way down the hall as he did. "May-maybe some other time. Bye Ruby!"

Before Ruby could bid him farewell in return, Sora had already disappeared around the corner, leaving the poor girl disappointed and a little upset with the way he took off. Still, it was not like she could do anything about it now, so she just decided to go back to her team's room and see if any of them were still there. When she arrived, she found that only Yang and Blake were present, the former playing a game on her Scroll while the latter just sat back with a book that she had checked out of the library yesterday firmly in her hand. Seeing that the two were both busy, Ruby just trudged over to her bed and began pulling out some of her notes so that she could review the stuff they had covered in their last few classes, but unfortunately, she found it very difficult to focus.

It was really weird to Ruby. One minute, she was able to keep her mind on her work, easily putting down her answers to the questions on her homework, or working to memorize the facts she had written down in class for her notes, and then a few seconds later, her earlier encounter with Sora suddenly popped into her head, drawing a sad sound out from her. She could not understand why that was the case. Sora had not yelled at her or been mean in any way when he said that he could not hang out, and yet, she still felt really bad that he had turned her down for some other thing. What that thing was, Ruby could not say for sure, since Sora had not told her, and from the way he was acting, it seemed like he had no intentions of telling her whatever it was he was doing. Maybe that was why it hurt so much; because Sora was keeping secrets from her. It was pretty obvious that he and his team were keeping everyone in the dark about a lot of things, but Ruby still felt pretty upset about how it seemed like Sora did not at least trust her enough to tell her what at least one of those secrets could be.

What Ruby did not realize was that her moans and groans were not as quiet as she thought they were, and Yang and Blake had both taken notice very quickly. Naturally they were concerned about the young leader of Team RWBY, but they figured that if something was wrong, Ruby would tell them. That or they would figure it out quickly enough, seeing as Ruby wore her heart on her sleeve most of the time. When Ruby just kept groaning and they failed to figure out what the reason was, Yang finally decided to step up and see what was bothering her little sister so much.

"Everything okay there, Rubes," Yang inquired, pausing her game so that she could give her full attention to the conversation.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just can't seem to focus on my work," Ruby insisted.

"All that moaning and groaning does not sound like frustration with an inability to focus," Blake disputed. "Did something happen?"

Ruby leveled a look at Blake for being so perceptive, but she could not fault the black haired girl since she probably was making it a little obvious. Taking a deep breath before letting it out with a quick sigh, Ruby admitted, "I guess I'm just a little upset that Sora couldn't hang out with me today. I mean, he said he had finished all of his weekend school work the other night, so I thought he might want to help me with mine, or even let me help him look for his friend."

"What friend," Yang asked.

"Oh, right. I guess you guys don't know yet," Ruby realized. "Sora and his friends came to Beacon because they heard that they would have a better chance at finding a missing friend of theirs." At this point, her earlier smile returned to her face as she revealed, "We actually spent most of yesterday looking up anything that could give them a clue as to that friend's whereabouts, but we couldn't find anything before we had to go down to the school's workshop so that we could give Crescent Rose and his Keyblade a check-up."

"Whoa, hold on a minute," Yang cut in, a wide grin already starting to form on her face. "Are you telling me that…you actually let Sora come with you when you did maintenance on your scythe?"

"Why wouldn't I have? I invited him to come along with me," Ruby shrugged, not realizing that admitting that was likely to be a mistake until after she said it.

"You _invited_ him," Yang exclaimed, getting a lot more excited than she already was before, right to the point where she had jumped down from her bunk to get closer to her sister.

"What's the big deal," Blake asked, not getting why her partner was so excited.

"Blake, Ruby _never_ invites someone to go with her when she's giving her scythe its regular maintenance! Not since she was old enough to do it by herself," Yang explained. "The only time she ever lets anyone be around her when she's doing so is when someone's already there, or if someone else is already going with her. I've even had to struggle to get her to let me tag along so that I could do some work on Ember Celica, and she actually _invited_ Sora to go with her! That's basically like she asked him out on a date!"

"YANG! Don't say things like that," Ruby protested as her face began to match her cloak. "It wasn't a date! I don't even like Sora that way! He's just a really good friend!"

"Yeah, that you have a total crush on," Yang teased.

"Do not!"

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do. Not!"

"Ahem," Blake coughed, breaking up the childish bickering and drawing the gazes of both sisters onto to her. She said nothing more for a minute, making Ruby and Yang think that their conversation was bothering her while she was trying to read, until finally, she gave Ruby a very cat-like smile and said, "You totally do have a crush on Sora."

"BLAKE," Ruby whined, while Yang pumped a fist in victory. Seeing that the other two girls were ganging up on her, Ruby went with her usual defense strategy in these situations and ducked under her hood. "You guys are being mean to me," Ruby whined.

"Ruby, come on," Yang said as she pulled her sister's hood back, her teasing tone now gone in place of a much more soothing one. "There's nothing wrong with having a crush on a guy. It's totally normal. Besides, there are worse guys you could have picked for your first crush."

"I'm telling you, I don't have a crush on Sora," Ruby continued to insist.

"Do you even know how to tell when you have a crush on someone? Or even what it's like when you have feelings like that for a guy, Ruby," Blake then asked, honestly curious about whether or not the younger girl did.

"Well…I don't know, kind of," Ruby confessed, albeit a little nervously. As Yang had said, this would be the first time Ruby ever had so much as a crush on someone, seeing as the closest thing to romance she had ever been exposed to was between her parents, and some of the boys that Yang had dated in the past. She could not really remember her mother that well now, since she was really little when Summer Rose had died, and Yang's relationships tended to not last very long, so neither of those were the best examples to draw an idea from.

One shared look between each other after hearing that told Yang and Blake exactly what they had to do now. "Well then, how about we help you out with that," Yang offered. "Me and Blake will ask you a series of questions that you'll need to answer with complete honesty. No half-answers, no cop outs, just the complete and honest truth."

"I-I don't know about this," Ruby tried to refuse, but she knew it was futile to refuse when her sister was really serious about something like this.

"First off, do you ever find yourself thinking about him more than anyone else when he does something crazy or maybe even dangerous, even when someone else is involved," Blake asked, taking the initiative on the whole thing.

That seemed like an easy one to Ruby, since it made her think back to when Sora and Roxas had challenged Team CRDL, but she did not want to admit the truth. She was afraid it would make her look like a bad person. It must have shown on her face, because Yang placed a hand on her shoulder when she did not answer right away, and said, "Ruby, its okay to admit if that was the case at any point. It doesn't make you a bad person; it just shows how much you care about him." When Ruby continued to remain silent, Yang then went on to add, "I promise that none of what you say will leave this room. We'll probably tell Weiss about it, but that would be it, okay?"

Having that confirmed for her seemed to make Ruby feel a little better, because she gave a small nod in response and sighed as she finally gave her answer. "Yes."

"Have you ever found yourself feeling a bit self-conscious around him? Like say, if you wanted to ask him something, but you were afraid that you would mess up doing so, or you were just worried about how he would react to something you did that would be considered embarrassing," Yang asked.

"Yes," Ruby replied, her mind automatically going to both yesterday when she had asked if he wanted to do their weapon maintenance work together and when they first met after she had exploded.

"Do you find yourself staring at him and noticing things about him in a single moment that others would probably miss," Blake asked.

"Once or twice," Ruby answered again, feeling a little more nervous about that one than the last few.

"Do you feel like it's easier to be yourself or just have fun with him around," Yang asked.

"…Yes," Ruby admitted, worried about how her sister would take that.

Luckily, it did not seem to bother Yang too much, as the blonde just kept on smiling at her sister, even as she asked the next question. "Have you ever felt especially excited at a chance to hang out with him?"

"Yes," Ruby confirmed.

"If he's having trouble, or is just upset, what's the first thing that you want to do," Blake then questioned.

"Help him, of course," Ruby answered. Apparently that was not good enough, because neither of the other two asked another question after that, and Ruby could not help but elaborate afterwards. "Okay, help him and maybe give him a hug until he feels better. Or really just do anything to make him feel better, because it seems like he's always hiding some kind of sadness underneath that smile of his."

"How would you describe that smile," Yang asked, making a note to ask about what sadness Ruby was talking about later.

"I…I don't know," Ruby shrugged.

"Just go with whatever the most honest answer is, and whatever comes to mind first," Blake offered in prompting.

Ruby paused for a minute to think about the sight of Sora's smile, and soon found herself smiling a little more as she admitted, "I would say…cute…warm…like something that always makes me feel safe and that everything's going to be okay no matter what happens, even when everything seems hopeless."

"Yeah, Ruby, those are all signs that you've definitely got a crush on Sora. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that you may even be in love with him," Yang informed her sister. This time when Ruby blushed, she did not try to hide behind her cloak, despite how much she obviously wanted to, and Yang took that as her cue to continue on. "Like I said, you couldn't have picked a better guy as your first crush. I mean, Sora's like the perfect guy from what I've seen. Always smiling, always willing to help others, kind, cute…"

"Just about every other positive word or description in the book," Ruby absently muttered without realizing it.

"What was that," Yang asked.

"Nothing!" Ruby immediately insisted in a panic, never noticing how Blake's cat-like smile was back again, signaling that she somehow knew what the red-clad scythe wielder had said. Her face soon fell again when she argued, "But Sora's not perfect. I mean, almost every time we ask him and his friends a question about who they are, they clam up or try to change the subject after saying that it's a long story or they just don't want to talk about it."

"Well, it's not like they're the only ones who keep secrets," Blake pointed out, absently playing with her bow a little as it seemed to twitch a little when she did.

"But this is a lot more frequently than anyone else," Ruby argued. When she thought back to the time she spent with Sora yesterday, she found that she had a few things to add to her argument, and added, "I mean, aside from the fact that friend of his is missing, and that they have red hair and a Keyblade like him and the rest of his team, Sora really didn't tell me too much about whoever he's looking for. I don't think he ever even mentioned whether they were a boy or a girl. And when we were in the workshop, I could've sworn I heard him say something about some friends of his being able to do magic."

"But Ruby, there's no such thing as magic," Yang reminded her. "Are you sure that he wasn't talking about some kind of stage show variety."

"I'm positive, because when I asked him to repeat himself, he went and said Dust instead, like he was trying to cover a mistake he had just made," Ruby replied. "He also mentioned that his best friend had reached this really important goal, but afterwards, it seemed like he was upset that they didn't both get to it even though they were taking the exam for doing so at the same time. It just feels like every time when I learn something new about him or his friends, there's a dozen new questions popping up that they won't tell us the answers too."

"Ruby has a point," Blake admitted, prompting the sisters to turn to her again in questioning. "During some of their past conversations, I couldn't help but overhear some really weird things between them that seemed a little suspicious. Not really in a bad way, but it does make me think that Team SLVR knows about some things that they aren't telling us, like about the Heartless or their weapons and abilities."

"Did you ever hear anything that made it sound like something bad might've happened to Sora in the past," Ruby asked.

"Once or twice, usually after someone made an indication that he had feelings for someone, usually you," Blake admitted.

"Come to think of it, Roxas was acting pretty weird when he caught me getting ready to tease you and Sora about that back on our field trip to the Forever Fall Forest," Yang admitted. Her brows then scrunched up in thought as she added, "Speaking of which, Roxas and Lea both seemed to act really weird a lot of the time when their past is brought up, but especially when you mention their old jobs. Even when I tried to learn a little more about his past while we were hanging out yesterday, Lea would flip between eager and happy to moody and sad."

Hearing all of this information about Team SLVR that they had each come to notice or gather made the girls grow a little more suspicious about just what it could be that the four boys were hiding. Sure, they were a big mystery for everyone at Beacon, but most other people had not been around the Keybearers as much as Team RWBY had. The only ones that had nearly as many interactions as the girls were Team JNPR, and it was hard to say for sure if Jaune's team had noticed the same things that theirs had. All in all, it was clear that they had way more questions about the huntsmen-in-training than what some would consider normal for an entire team at Beacon.

Thinking about how much they had noticed in regards to Sora's team, Ruby could not help but wonder aloud, "Do you think that Weiss has noticed anything odd about them, too?"

Before the other two could answer, their door suddenly slammed open, and they turned to see a rather irritated Weiss Schnee had just arrived. "Whoa, what's go you worked up, Ice Queen," Yang asked.

"First off, enough with the Ice Queen thing," Weiss snapped. "Second, not that it's any of your business, but Ven just had to cancel our study session."

"I didn't know you two had even set up a study date," Ruby questioned.

"It was just last night after we did some sparring practice together," Weiss revealed. "He said that he was going to be spending all of today working on his weekend assignments and could use the company, but when I saw him in the hall earlier and asked if we were still on, he said that he forgot he had made plans to do his homework together with the rest of his team and ran off."

"Weird…That sounds a lot like what happened when I asked Sora if he wanted to hang out earlier," Ruby hummed in thought. Another thing then occurred to her after thinking over what Weiss had said, and she then asked, "Did he say he was going to be doing his assignments with his whole team?"

"Yes, you dunce. That's what I just said," Weiss replied.

"But that doesn't make any sense. Sora told me yesterday that he had finished all of his weekend homework the night before," Ruby recalled.

Blake was about to add onto that by revealing that Roxas had done all of his assignments yesterday after they ran into each other in the library, when an odd sound suddenly reached her ears. Without the rest of her team noticing, Blake swiftly made her way over to their window, and looked out to see if she had been hearing things or not. As it turned out, she had not, and she immediately cut into the others' conversation, saying, "Hey girls, you might want to see this."

The other girls all quickly crowded around the window, and looked out and down to see the entirety of Team SLVR gathered up, apparently checking over some things that they had on them while they talked before they all took off in a direction that would lead them off campus. What made it really strange though, was how the four boys seemed like they were checking to make sure that no one was watching or follow them before they started to head out, and when they did, they were not heading in the direction of either the other buildings of the school or the airship landing pads. In point of fact, it looked like they were heading for the Emerald Forest, of all places for some reason.

"Where in the world are they going," Weiss questioned on everyone's behalf, but it seemed that none of them had any answer for her.

After looking after the departing Keybearers, Ruby found it easy to answer that question with one simple order for her team. "Come on. Let's go find out."

"Uh Ruby, are you sure about that? I mean, I get that they have a lot of secrets, but spying on them like that wouldn't make it right," Yang hesitantly argued.

"We're not spying on them," Ruby insisted. "We're just…going with them without them knowing, and learning about a few of things that they're trying to keep secret from us."

"That is spying," Weiss pointed out.

Ruby did not seem to pay her partner any mind in this case, as she simply asked, "Look, those guys have been keeping a lot of secrets from us and I want to know why. If they won't tell us, then this may be our best chance to find out for ourselves. Besides, what if they're mixed up in some kind of trouble? I don't want Sora and the others to get hurt because there was something that we could've done to help and we didn't."

Ruby's words seemed to do the trick for the girls, because after one more exchange of looks with Yang and Blake, Weiss nodded in agreement as she said, "Well, I suppose I would be a very irresponsible partner if I just let you go off and do something like this alone."

"I'm in," Blake agreed.

"Like I'm gonna let my baby sister get into trouble like this without me," Yang smirked.

"Alright, Team RWBY, gear up and move out," Ruby ordered, and with that, the girls all raced out of their room to follow Team SLVR. But only after they stopped to grab their weapons and a good supply of Dust.

* * *

A short time later, Sora landed on the forest floor of the Emerald Forest with a light thud. Afterwards, he quickly pulled out his Gummiphone to check the tracking app they could use to locate the stealth gummi, and after confirming that they were heading in the right direction, he looked over his shoulder and shouted, "Come on you guys! Hustle it up!"

"Relax buddy! We're coming," Ventus replied as he floated down into a steady landing just a few feet behind Sora.

Roxas followed soon after, easily using Glide to guide his descent like the other two had, but the final member of their team landed with a bit more noise, and a lot more scorch marks, as Lea used his fire powers to carry him down by unleashing fire blasts from his hands every few seconds or so until he was on the ground. "You guys do remember that I can't use Glide like the rest of you, right," Lea questioned. "As in, I can't basically fly through the air like we're all on Neverland?"

"Don't worry, Axel. We'll teach you how to do it someday," Roxas reassured his friend before joining the other two in a sprint for the ship.

"That's what you keep saying, and yet, here we are, long after the first time you said it, and I still don't know how to use that ability," Lea pointed out as he ran alongside his best friend. "Forgive me if I'm not too willing to take your word for it."

"Okay, then how about you take my word for it," Ventus offered. "Don't worry. We'll teach you how to use Glide…Someday."

Lea was not dumb, nor was he stupid, so he did not need to see the pair of blondes laughing as they high-fived one another to know that they were having a good laugh at his expense. Just as he was about to start grumbling over it, Sora called back, "Focus you guys! We can poke fun at each other once we're on the ship and flying towards Twilight Town."

They all went quiet after that, knowing that Sora had given an unspoken order to keep their eyes and ears peeled for any sign of anyone or anything that should not be out here with them right now when he said that. Sure, it was probably silly to think that there was anyone out in the Emerald Forest right now besides the Grimm, but you could never be too careful, especially when you are trying your best to protect the world order. Their silence did not last for all that long though, since Lea was a little skeptical about their chosen path to the ship. "Are you sure we're going right way, Sora," Lea had to ask.

"Of course I'm sure," Sora insisted. "Chip and Dale made it a point to make sure that I knew how to use the tracking app on the Gummiphone so that we'd be able to find the stealth gummi ship no matter where we landed it. I may not be all that great with technology, but that doesn't mean I'm completely hopeless with it."

Lea seemed to accept that, and they continued on with their journey forwards in silence for a few more minutes, drawing closer to their improvised landing site with every step they took. For a time it seemed like they would be able to get to the ship without any incident impeding their path, but then, Ventus suddenly skidded to a halt, and called out in a hushed tone of voice, "Guys, hold on a minute and keep quiet!"

The other three froze the very second that Ventus had spoken, and did not say a word as they strained their ears in an attempt to hear whatever had spooked him. When they heard nothing more than the sounds of nature, Sora slowly edged over to his partner and asked, "What's the matter?"

"I thought I heard something just now. I don't think we're alone out here," Ventus replied, keeping his voice low and quiet as he continued to listen.

After falling quiet and listening for a few more minutes, Lea finally sighed and said, "You must have imagined it, Ven. There's no one out here but us and some wildlife."

"And a whole bunch of Grimm," Roxas reminded him. "Or did you forget how we had to fight a massive pack of them not even half an hour after we had crashed down out here?"

"All the more reason why we should hurry and get airborne," Sora agreed, and he was soon picking up his pace in an effort to reach their ride off-world.

What none of the boys realized was that the thing Ventus heard had actually been Yang's boot snapping a twig she had just missed, but thankfully, she and the rest of Team RWBY had managed to find a good hiding place before the boys had spotted them. Once she had deemed it safe to continue their pursuit of the boys, Ruby silently signaled for the girls to move forward, and they returned to their silent pursuit of Team SLVR, ducking between trees and rocks in order to avoid further detection. After traveling a short distance, Ruby found herself scrambling to duck behind cover again, as she saw that Sora and the others had all come to a stop in a small clearing. Thankfully, it did not seem like they saw her, and she was able to let the rest of the girls know that they needed to hide before they wandered into the clearing. They would have peeked out from their hiding places to watch for when the boys began moving again, but from what the girls could tell, Team SLVR had no intention of moving on from the clearing. Instead, they just continued to stand there, with Lea, Roxas, and Ventus all glancing about at their surroundings as if they were standing guard, while Sora seemed to be waving his hand through the air in an effort to find something.

With most of the boys on lookout, none of the girls felt it was safe to try and peek out from their hiding place too often or too carelessly, so they stayed down, most of them with their backs up against the tree or boulder that they had hidden behind. That could not continue for long though, because otherwise, it would defeat the purpose of their impromptu spy mission, and that would mean that they would likely miss something when the boys started moving again. Finally, Blake decided to take a chance, and peeked out from her hiding spot, only to be met with a surprising sight that she had not expected at all.

"They're gone," Blake exclaimed, not bothering to whisper at all.

One by one, the rest of Team RWBY came forward to see that Blake was correct. All four boys had seemed to have vanished into thin air, and there was not one trace of anything that would indicate that they had left the clearing, or where they could have gone if they had. "Great! All that time and effort, and we ended up losing our targets," Weiss grumbled.

"Hey, it's not like they just disappeared. Maybe there's something that we're not seeing," Yang pointed out, trying to stay optimistic.

"Or maybe they realized we were following them and are now getting ready to jump scare us," Blake offered. Given how often the Keybearers joked around, she did think that it was likely something that they would do to someone that had been spying on them, whether they knew it was their friends or not.

While the rest of her teammates continued to theorize about what had happened to their targets, Ruby spotted something odd in the spot where Team SLVR had been just a moment ago. An oddly colored, rectangular piece of material that seemed to be just sticking up out of the ground, and she did not think it was metal. Or at least, it did not seem like any kind of metal that Ruby had ever seen before, and what made things even weirder was that it did not seem to be moving at all like anything else would be if it were just sitting in a position like that.

Feeling curious, Ruby started to move forward, tuning out the rest of her teammates as she went, and as she drew closer, she started to extend her arm out so that she would be able to touch the strange object upon reaching it. What she did not expect was that she would end up tripping over some unseen object on the ground the moment she was nearly in arm's reach, but her sudden cry of surprise and the thud that followed her ungraceful landing did at least bring an end to the debate that her friends were having. Still, she only found it all the more weird that she had landed on something that was a lot harder and colder than the forest floor should have been.

"Ruby, are you okay," Yang shouted as she rushed over to her sister's aid.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ruby reassured her sister. She then started to turn towards the object she had been moving towards as she added, "But I think there's something here that you…should…see?"

The girls were all confused by how Ruby had trailed off and ended her response in a question, but what was even more surprising was how Ruby was now looking back and forth at her surroundings like she did not recognize them at all. When it started to get to the point of being worrisome, Blake asked, "What's the matter?"

"Come over here and see for yourselves," Ruby quietly called, waving them over. "This is something that you've definitely gotta see to believe."

Now feeling just as curious as Ruby had been earlier, Weiss merely shrugged and then led the other two over to where their leader was sitting so that they could find out just what was so fascinating to the point of being unbelievable. They made it a point to watch their step though, since they did not want to end up falling over whatever it was that Ruby had tripped on, and when they finally came to a stop next to her, Weiss was more than ready to demand what it was Ruby wanted to show them that they could not have seen from where they were. At least that was the case, until she too began to take notice of their surroundings.

Gone were all signs and characteristics that were typical for the environment of the Emerald Forest, and in their place was a strange, rather colorful hallway that almost looked like the inside of a ship that seemed to stretch in two different directions. The only sign that they were still at least close to the forest was the fact that they saw the trees of said location after looking back in the direction they had come from, which allowed them to see that they had all just walked through a doorway or a ship's boarding hatch of some kind. When Blake moved to stand beside the door, she looked to her left and saw no signs of their being anything but forest that lay behind the doorway. That prompted her to lift a hand and try to reach out past the door on the other side of its edge, only to find it resting on a solid surface of some kind, while the wooded area behind it suddenly seemed to distort a little.

"It's…some kind of camouflage or cloaking device," Blake noted aloud for everyone.

"But just what is this thing that it's hiding, and how did Sora and the others know it was here," Yang asked. "Do you think it might belong to them?"

"It does seem very possible, but that still doesn't answer the question of which way they went from here," Weiss pointed out as she indicated the two paths that they could take from their current location.

Ruby was just about to answer her partner's question, when a soft rumbling reached her ears. Listening to the sound, Ruby quickly recognized it as an engine of some kind, but it still took her a moment to recognize what kind of engine it was. "Does anyone else hear an airship engine starting up?"

Looking back to Ruby as they listened for a minute, all the girls confirmed that they heard the same thing, which prompted Weiss to ask, "Does that mean that we're standing in some kind of airship?"

"Seems that way," Ruby noted. "But I've never heard of any airships with a cloaking or camouflage system like this."

"It doesn't look like anything from Atlas either, at least not based off of the airships that I've seen," Weiss informed them.

"So then…who made this thing? And what would Sora and the others be doing on it," Yang asked.

"Uh…Maybe we should be asking these questions from outside of the ship," Blake offered, pointing to the exit over her shoulder with her thumb.

The girls were all about to agree to that, when a warning light suddenly started flashing over the door, causing them to freeze in place out of worry that they had been caught. "What's that," Ruby asked, suddenly a lot more nervous than she had been before.

* * *

Meanwhile, up in the stealth gummi's cockpit, Sora had just finished confirming that the ship was fully operational again, mentally thanking Chip and Dale for making sure to install a self-repair gummi once again after he did, and was now in the process of bringing the ship fully online when a warning light suddenly flashed on his console. His eyes automatically jumped in the direction of said indicator, worried that he had missed something in his preliminary check over the systems, but a minute later, his expression turned flat as he looked over his shoulder to his teammates. "Okay, who left the hatch open," Sora asked.

Both of the blondes in the cockpit automatically turned to Lea, knowing that he was the last person to enter the ship, and his sheepish expression confirmed the silent accusation to be true well before he had even opened his mouth. "My bad," Lea confessed. "I could've sworn I hit the control to close it."

"Well, at least we don't have to walk all the way back down there to close it," Sora sighed in response, hitting the control on his console to close the hatch himself. "Let's just hope nothing accidentally got inside while it was open."

"I'm sure we've got nothing to worry about," Ventus confidently assured everyone. "After all, we made absolutely sure that we were clear before coming into the ship, and it's not like that much time passed between now and when we stepped inside."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Sora agreed.

"Enough talking; let's get going already! My home needs us," Roxas insisted.

"Right," Sora confirmed, and he immediately returned to what he had been doing before. A few more button presses and flip switches later, and Sora proudly announced, "Main power, fully online."

"All engines and thrusters operational," Ventus reported from his station. "Environmental control systems activated."

"Shields and armor systems fully charged and engaged," Roxas carried on once Ventus had finished his reports. "Navigational systems activated. Standing by to deactivate cloaking system."

"Weapons powered up and on standby," Lea informed the team. "Teeny Ships standing by for deployment."

"Alright, looks like we're go for launch," Sora declared, earning a round of excited confirmations afterwards. "Let's go, stealth gummi! Next stop: Twilight Town!"

Upon making that last declaration, Sora fired the ignition, and the four felt the ship rumble under their seats as it lifted up off the ground and began making its ascent from both the Emerald Forest and Remnant as a whole, ready to break through the world barrier and fly through interspace once again.

* * *

What none of the boys knew was that after Sora had hit the control to seal the hatch, Ruby quickly panicked as she saw the door closing, and ran as fast as she could without using her Semblance to either get out or stop it. Sadly, she was not fast enough, and the door closed right in her face. Looking around rapidly, Ruby quickly located the control to open the hatch, but no matter how many times she slammed her hand again it, the door would not reopen, or even give any kind of response to indicate that she was trying to open it. "It's sealed shut! I can't get it open," Ruby cried out.

"Out of the way! I'll open it up," Yang offered, smacking a fist into the palm of her hand as she moved over to the door.

Just when Ruby was about to let her sister at it, they all felt the ship's rumbling grow a little more intense, indicating that they were about to take off, and that prompted Weiss to urge Yang onward as she pleaded, "Hurry! I think they're getting ready to take off!"

Cocking her fist back, Yang was soon punching the door with everything she had, but no matter how hard she hit or how many times, it did not seem like the door was going to budge. Even when she started using Ember Celica to give her blows some extra power, nothing seemed to make the door even crack. Just when Ruby was about to suggest they all try blasting it at the same time, they felt the ship lurch upwards, indicating that it was too late, and they were now airborne. What they did not expect was that the lift off would include a much greater amount of g-force than usual, and as a result, they were unprepared to be thrown off their feet and back a short distance. Not wanting to take any chances, the girls all found something to grab onto, and held on for dear life until they felt like the ship had finally leveled off and assumed a speed that was safer for them to freely move about under.

The second she no longer felt the pressure of the previous g-force on her body, Blake raced over to the nearest window she could find, hoping she could see something that would let her guess where they were going, or at least what direction they were heading in. When she finally did find a viewport and looked outside, she could only gasp in awe at what she was seeing. "Whoa," Blake finally whispered when she found her voice again.

It had not taken too much for the other girls to notice Blake's sudden exclamation, despite its quiet volume, nor did their curiosity need much stroking for them to join Blake at the window so that they could discover what had prompted a wide-eyed, amazed reaction from their normally quiet and reserved teammate. Upon looking out the window for themselves, that amazement was just as quickly shared by the rest of Team RWBY, because there before them, they saw a vast ocean of stars and cosmic clouds, while slowly fading away into the distance was a massive sphere that could only have been Remnant. Sure, seeing a star-filled sky was nothing new for any of them, but the fact that they were currently flying through space at this very moment was enough to render all four girls speechless.

"Are…Are we actually…in Space," Yang eventually managed to ask.

"But that…that's impossible," Weiss protested. "Dust can't work outside of Remnant's atmosphere, and no one's discovered a way to change that or any alternative types of fuel sources that we could use for space flight."

Everyone was ready to point out that it looked like that was no longer the case, when another glance out the window allowed them to see several streaks of light passing by, and they all soon felt the ship lurch back a little, indicating that it had suddenly put on a new burst of speed. "Whoa! I think we're traveling at warp speed," Ruby exclaimed with stars in her eyes.

"But that…This…I can't…And the…" Weiss stuttered, until finally she just dropped against the wall and pulled her knees against her chest while sputtering an incoherent mess of babble and nonsense.

"Oh boy. I think this whole thing just broke her," Blake commented.

"There, there, Weiss. Everything will make sense again soon enough," Ruby soothed as she patted her partner on the shoulder.

"Shut up. It won't, and don't touch me," Weiss weakly protested, but she still pulled Ruby closer to her so that the red hooded girl could give her a proper, comforting hug.

As amusing as it was watching the two polar opposites that had somehow become partners and their antics, Blake still felt the need to point out just how serious this whole situation was, and reminded everyone, "If this really is Team SLVR's ship, then they've got a lot more explaining to do than we originally thought. Starting with why they would hide something like this from the world?"

"Not to mention how they managed to make it in the first place, or even where they're even going right now," Yang added on.

Ruby looked up from where she was sitting next to Weiss, her determined look now back on her face again, and said, "I get the feeling that we're not going to find out anything until after we get to wherever it is that Sora and the others are going."

* * *

Traveling with the warp gummi may not provide the most scenic routes, but there was no denying that it helped someone get wherever they needed to go fast, and the four Keyblade wielders could not be more thankful for that fact when they came into a final approach on Twilight Town barely more than an hour after they had left Remnant. When the ship came out of warp, the boys all smiled happily at the familiar sight of the world that Roxas and so many of his closest friends called home, and soon proceeded to kick back and relax as Sora guided the ship in closer.

"Ah, home sweet home," Lea sighed as he rested his arms behind his head. "I know we've only been gone for a few months, but it still feels like it's been ages since we've been back here, and it feels so good to finally be back."

"I know what you mean," Roxas gladly agreed. "I just wish we were here for a more social visit and not for the sake of work."

"Don't worry you guys," Sora told them. "I'm sure we'll get to hang around for a little bit after our job's done. All we have to do is land the ship and patrol around the town until Ansem the Wise has finished all the work on his Heartless Scanner, and then you can hang out with Hayner and the rest of the gang until sunset, at which point we'll be able to head back to Beacon. Besides, considering that Riku and the others have all taken the more important spots, I doubt we really have to worry that much about…"

"Heartless," Ventus suddenly shouted, interrupting Sora right when he was about to finish along with a loud klaxon that was now sounding throughout the ship.

"Seriously?! It's like every time I go to land on a world, a Heartless shows up to get in the way," Sora grumbled, thinking that Ven was referring to a Heartless ship that was about to fly into their path.

"No, not up here. Down there, in Twilight Town," Ventus corrected. "The ship's scanners just detected a really huge spike of darkness that could only be caused by a massive amount of Heartless, or a really powerful one."

"I thought gummi ship scanners could only detect Heartless that appeared out in interspace. Since when can they get a reading on how many Heartless are on a world," Lea asked.

"It's one of the special upgrades that were installed on the stealth gummi," Ventus explained, having been there to help Chip, Dale, and all the others involved in their current ship's development. "Not only is it capable of aerial combat on a world and equipped with cloaking capabilities, but it also has a scanner that lets it determine the threat level of Heartless on a world just based off the amount of darkness that's coming from a world."

"That would've been so helpful on some of my last journeys," Sora muttered.

"Hey, there are some drawbacks. It has to be within a certain range to get any kind of reading, let alone an accurate one. Right now, it can only tell us how bad the Heartless are on Twilight Town, the Kingdom of Corona, and Radiant Garden," Ventus explained. "If we want to use it on another world besides those, we'd have to get closer to it."

"Fascinating, now can we please go deal with the Heartless situation here? In case you forgot, we've got a lot of friends down there, and this is mine and Roxas's home," Lea reminded them.

"Right," Sora nodded in response. "Hold on guys, I'm taking us in! Axel, ready the main cannons to fire on the Heartless as soon as we're in range. Ven, watch our shields and armor levels. Roxas, see if you can get in touch with our friends that are down there and tell them to start evacuating everyone to safety."

"Way ahead of you, and it looks like the guys are also way ahead of us," Roxas reported, making everyone turn to see him just pocketing his Gummiphone. "That was Isa just now. He said that he got Hayner and the others together to help evacuate everyone to Sunset Terrace the moment he realized that the Heartless were about to attack. The town should be completely clear by the time we've gotten there."

While the other two just nodded in thanks for that update, Lea leveled a look at Roxas while he grumbled, "So you can call Isa by his name no problem, but you have a hard time calling me Lea instead of Axel?"

"To be fair, Isa acts a lot different from when he was Saïx, and it helps both me and Xion from remembering any of the times that we interacted with him while he was Saïx," Roxas defended.

"Okay, yeah, I can understand that," Lea agreed, knowing just how rotten his childhood friend had been to Roxas and Xion back in those days.

"Enough talk. Let's get in there," Sora ordered, and before anyone could respond, he gunned the ship forward so that it would be flying across the Twilight Town skyline all the sooner.

Soon after, the boys were all firmly strapped in as Sora brought the stealth gummi through Twilight Town's world barrier, allowing them to see the fiery skies of the city that was in an eternal sunset. What they did not see though was any signs of the Heartless that Ventus had reported getting traces of from the scanners. Sure, it was good to see that there were not any people in the town below, but they did not want to have sounded the alarm due to a faulty scanning device giving them the wrong information. Sadly, it was starting to seem like that was the case, because no matter where they looked, there was no sign of any Heartless. At least, not until something outside had hit the ship hard enough to the point that they would have been thrown from their seats had they not buckled up.

A few more hard blows just like that first one ended up causing them to be thrown even more off course, but thankfully, the shields seemed to hold out pretty well and Sora was able to get their flight path stabilized without too much difficulty. Unfortunately, when they saw what had hit them, any relief they might have felt from not crash landing once again was washed away faster than a spider down a waterspout on a rainy day. There, spinning through the sky and smashing against several buildings as it went, was what looked like a massive tornado or a giant tsunami of Shadow Heartless, and at the center, they could see a large core that glowed with a dangerous violet and orange color.

"Please tell me that's just a Demon Tower," Lea begged.

"Considering that we can see a huge sphere at its core as it passes by us, I'm afraid that I can't do that," Ventus informed his friend. "We're definitely dealing with a Demon Tide."

"But I thought the last of those things was destroyed in the battles at the Keyblade Graveyard, or at least all the ones that Xehanort and his Seekers could summon from the realm of darkness," Roxas protested.

"Doesn't matter. It's here now, and it's our job to stop it," Sora informed the group, and from the way his fingers were dancing across his control board, the other three had a feeling that they knew what Sora was thinking right now. Needless to say, it was risky, impulsive, and just downright bad to the point where none of them liked it.

"Uh, shouldn't we come up with a plan of attack before we charge that thing," Lea asked, hoping to deter Sora from his chosen course of action.

"I've already got a plan," Sora replied as he finished his work and gripped the steering controls. He then narrowed his eyes at the powerful Heartless and said only one word. "Attack."

Even though they were still buckled up, the other boys still felt the need to grab onto the nearest, secured surface when the ship suddenly blasted forward, with Sora putting it on a course that had them barreling towards the Demon Tide. The monster must have realized what they were doing, because it immediately spun around after bouncing off one of the buildings below them and started throwing Shadows at them like projectiles. It was a normal tactic for this type of Heartless, but that was where the normalcy ended, because a good number of the Shadows that were thrown at them all suddenly burst into flames in midflight, leaving some very harsh scorch marks on the ship's hull when they did hit, while causing some parts of the town to be set on fire if they missed them. What was worse was that even if the Shadows did miss, they all still came out in one piece for the most part, and then quickly scrambled to rejoin the rest of the tide. A few never quite made it and ended up disintegrating like they should have after being flung out from the Demon Tide, but it was still not enough to weaken it by any larger of a margin than the Demon Tide normally would have been by using that attack. If anything, it just ended up ensuring that it never lost any strength at all.

When he realized what was happening to Twilight Town every time one of the flaming Shadows missed them, Lea quickly grabbed the weapons controls so that he could make his best attempt to blast them out of the sky before they could hit the ground, assuming they missed the ship. He also spared a few shots for the Demon Tide itself, hoping that he could at least weaken the beast a little more, but it did not seem like he was having any effect on the main collection of Shadows. The only thing he did manage to do was stop more of the thrown Shadows from rejoining the rest of the tide, but that was still little help them in the long run. At one point, the Demon Tide even started to slam its body against the ship, much like it had after they had first started flying over the town, only this time it was doing so intentionally, and there was no way for Lea to stop that attack.

Between the Shadows that the Demon Tide was throwing at them, be they the flaming ones or the normal variety, or the various times that it was slamming against them, it was clear even without his readouts that Roxas had good reason to say what he did after the most recent hit that the Demon Tide scored on them. "We're not going to be able to take many more hits like that," he shouted over the ship's alarm.

"Then let's see how it likes some of our bigger guns," Lea offered as he began to reach for the trigger on the ship's heavier artillery.

"No," Sora shouted just when Lea's finger was a hairs breath away from the trigger. "Using even the lightest of our stronger weapons comes with too much risk of damaging the town on the off-chance that we miss. I doubt I need to point out how most of the people who live here would rather have a home to come back to after this battle is over to you since this is just as much your home as it is Roxas's, do I?"

"Well what would you recommend," Lea questioned. "In case you haven't noticed, the main cannons aren't exactly all that effective against that thing, and it's the only thing we can use if you want to minimize the collateral damage."

Sora barely had time to think before he had to pull the ship up and into a sharp turn in order to avoid getting hit by the Demon Tide's next slamming attack again, but even if he did have more time to consider his options, he would not find many more than the only one that he knew for a fact could work. "We've got to get down there and take this fight to that Demon Tide in person."

"Right; because I'm sure that it's going to let us land the ship so we can hit in a full-frontal assault," Lea sarcastically remarked.

"I never said I was going to try and land without some form of cover," Sora pointed out. Then he turned to his blonde partner with a simple request. "Ven, think you can land a dive bomb attack to get its attention?"

"No problem. Just let me get down to the hatch and tell me when you're ready," Ventus confirmed, and he quickly unfastened his seatbelt in order to rush down from the bridge and get into position for the requested maneuver.

Getting from down to the hatch that they had used to board the ship from the cockpit normally would have been a piece of cake, but getting there while they were under attack was a totally different story. Ventus was not sure what caused him stumble through the hallway more, the Heartless that were hitting the ship, or Sora's crazy piloting in an effort to hold them off. He was just glad he was able to stay on his feet for the most part, and the furthest he had come to falling over was when he got slammed into a wall from a sudden lurch of their vessel, but that could all change if he did not hurry to the hatch. Another point in his favor was that he was one of the fastest members of the team, so it came as little surprise that he managed to reach the hatch before any hits could cause him to lose his footing and drop to the floor, but just as he was about hit the controls and open the hatch, his good luck in avoiding a fall finally ran out. Surprisingly though, it was not because he lost his footing.

The next time that the ship shook under the blow of another hit, Ven had just barely managed to catch himself before he heard a startled yelp that was definitely feminine, and the next thing he knew something had slammed into him, causing him to drop to the floor with a hard thud. The really weird thing was that whatever hit him was actually still moving even after it had landed on top of him, and started letting out a pained groan as it pushed against his chest in an effort to sit up. When Ventus looked to see just what it was that hit him, he could only gape in stunned surprise upon realizing that he had not been hit by some_thing_, but instead, some_one_, and Ventus recognized this person very easily, even without seeing her usual, nearly-all-white attire.

"Weiss," Ventus could not help but cry out.

"Ven," Weiss gasped soon after, realizing who she was currently lying on top of. The minute that she had locked eyes with him though, the two became frozen where they were, clearly having realized their positions, but too embarrassed to really do anything to correct it, given their crimson blushes. Hearing an explosion from somewhere outside the ship helped to bring them back to the situation, and Weiss immediately jumped up so that she could glare down at the blonde while demanding, "What are you doing here?!"

"Me?! What're _you_ doing here," Ventus retorted as he got back on his feet, bracing a hand against the wall just in case the ship was suddenly hit again. "You're supposed to be at the library or something right now!"

"Ugh! You really think I'd go on with our study date after you ditched me like that," Weiss questioned, indignantly.

"I didn't ditch you! I told you that something had come up that I had to take care of," Ventus protested.

"You told me that you had already made plans to study with Sora, despite the fact that Sora had finished all of his homework after classes let out last Friday," Weiss reminded him. "And not only that, but it turns out that you actually came out here to go joyriding on some weird airship!"

"This isn't a joyride! We're here because…" Ventus started to hit back, only to stop short when Weiss's words processed in his head. "Wait, how'd you know that Sora finished his weekend homework already?"

"I told her," Ruby's voice answered, sounding a lot more stern than usual for the red-hooded huntress. Turning to where the voice had come from, Ventus found himself face-to-face not just with Ruby herself, but Yang and Blake too, and all three of them looked just as mad as Weiss did right now, despite their otherwise disoriented states. "What is going on here, Ven," Ruby asked, though it was really more of a polite demand than anything else.

Ventus was not really sure how to answer right now, but thankfully, he did not have to think for too long, as the ship suddenly shook once again, only this time, it was followed by a call over the ship's intercom. _"Ven, what're you doing down there?! Why haven't you gotten in position to make the jump yet,"_ Sora's voice hurriedly questioned.

Rushing over to the nearest intercom panel, which was right next to his original destination, Ventus hit the control to answer and replied, "Sorry guys, I'm in position now, but I ran into a few surprise guests right when I was about to open the hatch."

_"Surprise guests? What are you talking about,"_ Sora asked.

"Exactly what it sounds like. We've got some stowaways onboard," Ventus replied while throwing a small glare at the four girls that made some of them flinch back a little. If that look was any indication, then Team RWBY all had a feeling that they might be in a bit of trouble.

There was silence on the other end of the ship's intercom, during which Ven was sure that the other two were chewing out Lea for his carelessness in leaving the hatch open before they took off, until Lea's voice took over and asked, _"We didn't accidentally bring a Grimm with us from Remnant did we?"_

"No," Ventus replied.

_"It's not Cardin or any of the rest of Team CRDL, is it?"_

"No," Ven repeated

_"Oh, well in that case, how bad could it be,"_ Lea questioned, sounding a lot more flippant about the situation than he really should have been, but then again, he was not the one who was currently down here with the stowaways.

"I don't know, Lea; why don't you come down here and ask _Team RWBY_ about that yourself," Ventus questioned in retort.

_"…Did you say Team RWBY is here,"_ Roxas asked.

"Yeah, you heard me right."

_"As in Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. That Team RWBY,"_ Lea next asked, now sounding a lot more nervous than before.

"How many Team RWBYs do you know," Ventus questioned in return.

_"Well, there was this one time when Marluxia…"_

"Dah-dih-dih-dih! Never mind! I don't want to know," Ventus interrupted before the pyro could go any further. He then turned to the controls for the hatch and then typed in the security code that would allow him to open it while saying, "I'm in position now. Let's just hurry and take down that damn Heartless, and deal with this other situation afterwards."

"Um, excuse me," Yang snapped, sounding very offended at the way Ventus was brushing them off like that.

The other girls would have been glaring at Ven in the same way as Yang was, had it not been for the fact that Ventus immediately spun around and leveled all of them with a glare of his own that made it clear that they should not try to start something with him right now. "You four, find something to hold onto, stay put, and once the ship lands, don't do anything unless Sora or one of the others tell you to do it. You have no idea what kind of mess you've just landed both us and yourselves in simply by being on this ship."

No one said a word after that. The girls were all suddenly a lot more afraid of Ventus at that moment, seeing as they had never seen him so worked up before. Not wanting to test him right now, the girls all quickly found a secure object to hold onto, while letting Weiss use her gravity glyphs to better secure them in place, and then watched as Ventus opened the hatch at last, letting a powerful wind start blowing into the ship, while anything that was not secured in place started flying around them or end up getting blown out of the opened hatch. When they saw the Demon Tide barreling closer, they all felt a deep sense of dread building up on the inside, but not to the same extent as Weiss when she realized when Ventus was about to do.

"Ven, wait! You can't take that thing on alone," Weiss shouted over the window, but Ventus either did not hear her or just refused to listen, as the next thing she knew, he had jumped out the door and began free-falling towards the Demon Tide.

Spreading his arms and legs wide, Ventus did his best to guide his body so that his descent would not take him right into the middle of the Demon Tide, while at the same time allow him to strike either its side or very close to it. After getting to just the right position and finding his target in striking range, Ven summoned Wayward Wind, pulled back for a strike, and then thrust himself forward so that he was sent rocketing the rest of the way to the ground. His blade cut a long gash in the side of the Demon Tide as he sped past it, and when he hit the ground, the resulting shockwave seemed to deal a fair bit of damage to its base as well, throwing it off balance just as it was preparing to rush the stealth gummi ship again. Despite all the injury it had sustained from Ventus, the Demon Tide still seemed intent on attacking the ship, but a quick Wind Raid helped Ven convince the Heartless monstrosity to change its plans.

After infusing his Keyblade with a bit of ice magic, Ventus unleashed a powerful Blizzard Raid that froze a good chunk of the Demon Tide in place for a moment, and that seemed to finally earn him its full ire, because after Ven had his Keyblade back in his hand again, he saw the iced-over portion of the Demon Tide suddenly light up in fire, shattering the ice, while the entire beast had now fully turned to rush after him in a full tsunami of Heartless. Turning around, Ventus immediately began leading it further away from the ship and into the center of town, but he knew that he was not likely to stay ahead of it for long on foot. Good thing for Ven that he did not have to. He quickly tossed Wayward Wind forward, and then leapt up towards a nearby wall. Bouncing off the wall, Ventus was able to send himself flying just far enough ahead that his Keyblade Glider ended up nearly falling behind him, but it still managed to end up right underneath his feet when Ventus came down again, and like that, Ven was off, flying his winged waveboard just fast enough so that he was out of the Demon Tide's reach, but not so far that he would lose it completely.

It was actually a few seconds after he had transformed and hopped aboard his Keyblade Glider that Ven's Gummiphone suddenly rang, prompting him to scramble around in his pockets in a haphazard rush to pull it out and answer the device. _"Nice job, Ven,"_ Sora praised the moment his face appeared on the small screen. _"Try to keep it busy for a few minutes while we set the ship down over by the old mansion."_

"Just don't keep me waiting for too long. This thing is lousy company," Ventus joked in response before hanging up. All joking aside though, Ven could not help but spare a nervous glance over his shoulder back to the thing that he was currently trying to distract while simultaneously avoiding the attacks of, and he found himself quietly adding, "Seriously you guys, please hurry."

* * *

Sora was not sure if he had ever wanted the gummi ship's landing process to go faster more than he did right now. You could not blame him, seeing as he had just sent a friend of his out to battle with a giant monster in order to give them time to land the ship, so neither Lea or Roxas complained when Sora jumped out of his seat and the cockpit in order to lead the way to the ship's main hatch in a mad rush. Then again, it was not like they were going much slower than Sora; the former Nobodies were scrambling down the halls of the stealth gummi ship too. The only difference was that they were not giving out orders as they went.

"Okay, once we get into town, we need to hit that thing with everything we've got. Doesn't matter if it's magic, sword attacks, or whatever; if you can bring it out at a moment's notice, you use it so we can get that thing's attention on all of us and not just—RUBY," Sora had been saying, when he suddenly stopped short with a cry of surprise at the end, mainly because the girl in question had appeared in his path right after he rounded the corner.

"Ruby? Sora, Ven's the one that's fighting the De…" Lea started to correct, only to be grabbed by his vest and then slammed against the wall by a very irritated Yang. "Oh, hello Yang," Lea nervously greeted in a futile attempt to appease her rage. Turning his head a little, he saw that the other two girls were there too, leveling glares at him, Sora, and Roxas while standing in their path, prompting him to turn back to Sora and asked, "So did you mean Ruby as in the girl or the team?"

"I really don't think it matters in this case, Axel," Roxas muttered after taking in the looks on all four girls' faces.

"One of you is going to explain what is going on right now, or else I'll beat each of you to within an inch of your lives so fast you won't even have time to register its happening," Yang threatened, showing no room for disagreement.

Whether he realized that or not, Sora still had to argue against that course of action as he started to move past the younger of the two sisters. "Look, we'd love to fill you all in, but now's really not a good time for this."

"Then make time for it," Blake demanded, her arm slowly moving up to draw her sword from the sheath on her back.

"Yeah, see the thing is, we can't right now. We've got something kind of important to deal with at the moment, so if you could just let us…" Lea tried to excuse, only for Yang's grip to tighten on him. At least in one hand; the other just moved to position one of her gauntlets under Lea's chin, after she had cocked it to fire.

"No one's going anywhere until we get some answers," Weiss promised in finality, not knowing the fire she had just set off in Roxas.

"Fine! You want to do this now, by all means! Just know, that your stopping us from going out there will more than likely have doomed both Ventus and an entire world," Roxas snapped at the heiress, startling both her and the other girls with how vicious he sounded right then.

The fact that Roxas mentioned how Ventus was in such trouble was reason enough to give the girls pause, but it was the second thing he mentioned that really shocked them. "What do you mean 'an entire world,'" Blake eventually asked, being the first to somehow get over her shock.

Seeing that Yang had calmed down a little bit, at least to the point where her eyes were no longer red, Lea gently pried the blonde girl's hands off of him so that he could start moving forward again, and replied, "Exactly what it sounds like. Ven's fighting a really dangerous Heartless right now that if left unchecked, could cause this whole world to be either destroyed or lost to darkness. And right now, the only ones that can stop it are the three of us, four if you count Ven, and since we've got friends who live here, I think you can understand why we're so desperate to get out there and fight."

No one said a word after that, but neither side seemed willing to back down just yet. For the guys, it was because they did not want to make any moves without seeing how Team RWBY would react to all of this new information, but for the girls, it was because they were now hit with probably the biggest revelation that they had discovered since this whole day first began. Team SLVR having a secret ship that could not only reach but fly through space, seeing Ventus jump out of that ship while it was airborne to fight a massive monstrosity that was unlike anything any of them had ever seen or heard about before, the fact that they were apparently on another world entirely, none of that could compare to the shock that these four, strange boys were in the midst of going into a battle that would decide the fate of an entire world. In that moment, they all wanted to protest and say that it was too much for any average student to take on, even with what they had seen the boys do in the past, but for some reason, they could not. There was something about the looks in their eyes that said not only that they were going to go out there no matter what they said, but that they knew exactly what they were doing, that they had been through this before, and that they were going to do it again. It was all really unnerving.

The silence between them hung for quite a bit, right to the point where the intensity between them started to make the boys uncomfortable, but eventually, it was broken when Sora decided to speak up again. "Look, we're sorry we lied to you, and that we didn't tell you about all of this, but we had our reasons for keeping it a secret, and one of those reasons is right outside attacking Roxas and Axel's home, with only Ven to hold it off until we get there." When the girls remained where they were, not saying or doing anything that would give away their thoughts, Sora took a deep breath and added, "As soon as this is all over, we'll tell you anything and everything you want to know. I promise."

His promise did seem to get the girls to at least start sharing looks between each other again, but it still did not seem to be enough to convince them to step aside and let the boys do their thing. When one of them did move, it was not to move out of the way, but instead, to slowly move closer to Sora, with her eyes firmly locked onto his. "Sora, just do one thing for me before you go," Ruby requested, not giving any room to refuse. "I want you to look me in the eye, and tell me the full, honest reason why you didn't tell me about this."

Looking Ruby in the eye was a harder request for Sora to fulfill than the girl probably realized, since he often found himself getting lost in those glistening silver pools nearly every time that his eyes found hers, but somehow, he did manage to keep his wits about him and do as she asked. It may have been a much simpler version of the answer, but it was still the most honest one that he could give her. "Because I couldn't say anything, and because you're my friend, and I didn't want you getting pulled into all of this."

Ruby may not have realized it, but when Sora's beautiful blue orbs locked onto hers, a small blush had begun to form on her face. Like Sora, Ruby had often found herself getting lost in his eyes that were so blue that the sky and the ocean would both be insanely jealous, and she had to force herself to not drown in those blue seas so that she could hear Sora's answer. Upon hearing it, her blush only grew a little more, while her stomach did a few somersaults, and was that her heart skipping a few beats just now? She was pretty sure it was, but not just because of how a new intensity seemed to fill his eyes when he spoke. When he did answer her, Ruby saw nothing but pure, clear honesty in his eyes and it could be heard just as clearly in his voice, so really, how could she not believe him with all of that? A better question would be why was she just standing here blocking his path when she should be doing something else entirely, but that one was much easier for her to answer, as she proved when she finally gave him a satisfied smile, stepped out of his way, and drew her scythe.

"Okay, how can we help," Ruby asked, confusing the boys a little.

"You mean besides letting us leave and do our jobs," Lea asked, praying a little that she was not asking what he thought she was asking.

"I mean, how can we help you destroy that thing before it destroys the town," Ruby clarified.

"Ruby, you can't be serious," Weiss protested, trying to be the voice of reason, and she was not alone in that regard.

"She's right. That thing out there, the Demon Tide, it's not like the Heartless you all saw during initiation. Even we would face a huge risk of not coming back in one piece, if at all by trying to fight it," Roxas informed her.

"That just sounds like more of a reason for us to go with you to me," Ruby insisted.

Sora looked to his two friends that were native to this world, but they could only shrug to say that they had no more ideas on how to convince her otherwise than he did, so he just let out a sigh and turned back to Ruby with a smile. "Just follow our lead. Keep moving around so that it can't ever grab or hit you, and if it dives into the ground, be ready to take a lot of damage and do whatever you can to recover right afterwards," Sora instructed.

"Got it," Ruby nodded. She then turned to her team and asked, "You all in?"

"Like you even have to ask, Sis," Yang replied with a confident smile.

"It is technically our duty to help people whenever monsters attack. No one ever said that it stopped with just Grimm," Blake smirked as she drew her sword.

Weiss made a show of sighing tiredly, but they all knew it was an act from the smile on her face, even as she jokingly stated, "Well, someone has to make sure you all don't get yourselves killed."

"Hey, Ice Princess, I think you'll find that would be our job in this case," Lea quipped in return as he summoned his Keyblade forth.

"Alright, let's get moving," Sora ordered, and with that, he and Ruby took the lead in racing off to Ventus's last known location.

What neither Sora or Ruby realized was that Yang and Lea had managed to position themselves well back in the group so that they could exchange conspiratory smiles over a matter that they had both taken notice of earlier. "So, you caught Ruby's little slip earlier too, right," Lea asked the blonde.

"You mean when she asked 'Why didn't you tell me' instead of 'Why didn't you tell us' during that exchange she and Sora had a moment ago," Yang feigned ignorance in return. Her act had dropped immediately after when she next said, "She definitely likes him."

"Oh big time. Now it's just a matter of getting her to admit it," Lea agreed. Not that his smile stayed for long, because he then added, "Just don't get any ideas about messing with Sora over this just yet. I'd rather not spend our date next Saturday cooking up schemes on how to get those two together."

"Yeah, you might want to avoid getting your hopes up on that, because depending on what you guys have to tell us once this is all over…" Yang cautioned, her playful nature suddenly gone again.

"Right…Gotcha," Lea nodded in understanding. He may not be in it right now, but it was clear that no matter how the fight with the Heartless ended, he would still be in hot water with Yang over all of this.

* * *

In hindsight, Ven probably should have realized that using his Keyblade Glider in a town that he was not very familiar with was a bad idea. He was just lucky that he was able to stay airborne and on the thing for as long as he did, but it did not sting any less when he was blasted off the thing not even five minutes after the stealth gummi had flown out of sight. Luckily, with or without his old, main method of travel, Ventus was still one of the fastest Keyblade wielders in the worlds, and he used that to his advantage by dancing between buildings, alleyways, and even the thrown Shadows while trying his best to score hits on the Demon Tide. He would have tried to hit it with some of his more powerful attacks, but the thing was just moving way too fast for Ventus to be able to properly power up any of those attacks, so he had to stick with whatever he could throw out at a moment's notice.

Eventually, his attempts at evasion while firing off potshots came to a close, when the Demon Tide suddenly sank into the ground and then burst back up again from directly beneath him. The attack had not been fatal, but it did hurt a lot, and the flight Ven was sent on after just managing to escape did not help either, considering that his landing consisted of him being smacked into a building before dropping to the ground like a brick. Ventus felt like his whole body was screaming in pain after that, right to the point where it hurt him just to roll out of the way when the Demon Tide came flying at him again, and he was sure that he would not be able to dodge its next attack. That next attack looked like it was going to come a lot sooner than anyone would have liked, because the Demon Tide had managed to rebound off of a building in its latest charge, and turn itself right back around so that it was flying at Ventus once more.

Ventus was sure that he was finished, until he felt somebody grab his arm, while a bright, white light suddenly flashed into existence beneath them. He barely had time to try and determine what the odd light was before the person holding him pulled him away at an incredible speed, getting them both clear of the Demon Tide's attack before it could hit. After breathing a sigh of relief, Ventus turned to thank his rescuer, thinking it had to have been one of the other guys, most likely Sora or Roxas. His gratitude died in his throat when he saw that the person who saved him was not any of his fellow Keyblade wielders, but instead, a familiar heiress who was now turning to aim her rapier at the Demon Tide in a silent challenge. "Weiss," Ventus exclaimed. "What are you…?! I thought I told you to stay in the ship!"

"You also said to do whatever Sora and the others say and they decided to let us help you fight this repulsive thing," Weiss retorted without even looking at him. She quickly fished something out of the pouch she had attached to the back of her skirt, and held it out to him with her free hand and said, "Sora also said to give you this if you looked hurt, and from what I can see, you most certainly need it."

Although he was still upset that Sora and the others would let the girls get involved in this fight, he was thankful for the save, and seeing that Weiss was handing him an Elixir that she had no doubt gotten from Sora, Ventus could find no real reason to do anything but politely accept the item in question, down the vial's contents in one gulp, and then jump back up on his feet once he felt his strength return to him with a smile as he said, "Thanks."

"We're still going to be talking about all of this later," Weiss promised him.

"I know," Ventus agreed. "Let's just deal with the Demon Tide for now."

"Way ahead of you," another voice called out, and the two were soon treated to the sight of the Demon Tide being surrounded by a fast moving storm of rose petals as something slashed at it several times over.

Upon delivering one last slice with her scythe, Ruby Rose finally came to a stop before the Demon Tide, but she did not stay in that spot for long. She quickly fired Crescent Rose at the ground in order to push herself away from the Heartless, giving Lea an opening to throw out several blasts of fire with his Keyblade. After one final fire blast, Lea transformed his Keyblade into a pair of flaming chakrams, and sent both spinning, spiked wheels hurling at the Demon Tide. It seemed to have some small effect, but not nearly enough, and Yang soon realized this when she went to attack it with a powerful punch. Her hit did not manage to connect, as the Demon Tide merely swiveled out of the way before hurtling itself directly at her, striking the blonde so hard that if it was not for her Aura, she probably would have lost consciousness at best. Luckily Blake was able to swing in and catch Yang before the blonde hit the ground, and with her partner's help, Yang was able to spin around and get set on course for another flying punch, this one having an extra boost from her Semblance.

Yang's attack connected this time around, and it seemed to knock the Demon Tide a little off balance, which was just fine with Roxas, because it gave him his own chance to attack, and he took it without hesitation. With Oathkeeper and Oblivion in hand, Roxas dealt a quick succession of several blade strikes onto the Demon Tide, only pausing to add a little bit of both light and dark elements to his blades so that each strike would have some extra power to them, and it seemed like he was really whittling it down quite a bit. At least, until the Demon Tide suddenly tossed a few more flaming Shadows at him, prompting Roxas to break off his attack so that he could try and either evade or destroy the Heartless projectiles before they hit him. He mainly focused on destroying the flaming Shadows though, since he did not want to risk any more fires starting in the town, but there was only so much one could do, even with two Keyblades. He was just glad that most of the fires had already been extinguished by the last member of their group.

When he arrived in town with the others, the first thing that Sora did was set to work on putting out the fires with every water spell that he could muster up, and whenever a new one started to crop up, he quickly doused that one out as well, even if he had to break off from joining in on the fight to do so. Once he was sure that enough fires had been dealt with for now, Sora finally managed to get in on the action, and it was right after Roxas had been forced away from the Demon Tide. A quick switch from Kingdom Key to Shooting Star later, and Sora had swiftly joined the fight by transforming his weapon into his go-to long-range form. Using his Double Arrowguns to fight the Demon Tide from a distance was definitely a good call on Sora's part, because it freed up Roxas and most of the others to launch a full-frontal attack once more. The only ones that were not joining in on said assault were Blake and Ruby, both of whom had decided to use their weapons' gun modes to help Sora out with the long-range approach.

The strategy was rather sound and prevented any more fires from starting in Twilight Town, but no plan could ever work for the entirety of a battle, and the Demon Tide proved that when it suddenly launched into the air and began plowing through the group that had attacked it up close. Only Weiss and Ventus managed to get clear before it hit, thanks to a timely use of Weiss's glyphs, but Yang, Roxas, and Lea were not quite as lucky, and ended up getting blasted into the side of another building before they dropped down in an alleyway below them. When Ruby saw her sister and their friends get hurt, she immediately switched Crescent Rose back into full scythe mode, and blasted herself towards the Demon Tide, against the better advice of her other friends. Once she was close enough, Ruby angled her scythe so that she could use the next blast adjust her flight path a little, and she was soon hitting the Demon Tide with a powerful spin attack. It was hard to really say for sure how much damage she did, because the Demon Tide was still going as strong as ever afterwards. When Ruby landed again though, she had not seen that. All she saw was that her target had completely vanished from sight, and she thought that meant that they had won. At least, until she heard the others shouting for her to get away from where she was standing, but by then, it was already too late.

A faint rumbling was all the warning Ruby got, and she just barely had time to glance down before the Demon Tide suddenly burst out from beneath her feet, sending her flying into the air. As hard as she tried, Ruby could not suppress a scream of both fright and mild pain after getting hit by that attack, and when Blake managed to swing in and catch Ruby using her weapon's ribbons, she found the girl was just barely conscious at the moment. Blake had immediately set to work in trying to heal Ruby using the Potion that Roxas had given her before they entered the town, but she should have done a better job of taking in her surroundings first, because the Demon Tide was already flying at them, ready to attack again. By the time Blake had realized this, there was already little time for them to react, and she was not sure if she could even get them to safety using her Semblance.

What Blake did not know was that Sora had frozen in his current spot to watch Ruby carefully after she was hit, and the moment that the Demon Tide started barreling towards her and Blake, his mind had flashed back to a far-too-similar scenario. The biggest differences being that instead of a town there was a massive wasteland littered with fallen Keyblades, instead of two girls there was only one, and that one girl was a certain redhead trying to reach for him before she was suddenly swept away by the monstrosity. It was probably one of the most horrifying moments of Sora's life up to that point, and he did not wish to see it again.

"No! Not this time," Sora declared as he used his Airstep to move right into the path of the Demon Tide. When his feet landed on the ground, he quickly switched from his Double Arrowguns to another Keyblade, and a second later, a brilliant light seemed to flood the whole area, forcing everyone to shield their eyes until the light had died down.

When it finally did, the girls from Remnant were all staring at Sora with eyes that were as wide as dinner plates, while the guys just grinned excitedly knowing that the Demon Tide was more than likely about to be toast. There, standing before Ruby and Blake, was Sora, but his attire had now taken on a shinning, silvery-white and black color scheme, with black, wisplike stripes going up his pants legs, and three crown symbols on each of his sleeves, while in his hand was a glowing rainbow colored blade. What really stood out to the girls of Team RWBY was that Sora's eyes now possessed a far more intense and serious look in them than anything that they had ever seen from the leader of Team SLVR. At the same time though, his new appearance when combined with that gaze seemed to grant Sora a sense of assurance and confidence that would allow anyone to rest easier simply because he had now become able to make things right with just a simple move, if he wanted to. This was Sora's most powerful Formchange, brought on by the power of his Ultima Weapon; this was the Ultimate Form.

Seeing this new form of Sora's, even though he had not done anything with it yet, had left Team RWBY so awestruck that only Ruby herself could really find anything to say at the moment. Thankfully, she found the words to summarize all of their thoughts. "Holy cats."

"You can say that again," Blake barely whispered in return, being the first to find her voice again and the one who was closest to Ruby at the time.

The Demon Tide did not seem too perturbed by this sudden change, because it only paused for a few seconds before continuing its charge once again. A very bad move on the Heartless monster's part, because Sora was about to give it a full demonstration of what he was capable of in this form, and it had started the moment that he changed over to the Ultima Weapon. Barely even a second after the Demon Tide had begun moving for him and the two girls behind him again, Sora teleported right in front of the Demon Tide and struck it several times over with his new blade at a speed that he had not possessed before. To make matters even worse for the Demon Tide, each of Sora's attacks seemed to summon several additional swords of various colors, eight in total, making his strikes even more powerful than they already were. Leaping away from the Demon Tide, Sora then sent his blade flying towards it, summoning several additional swords with a wave of his hands as he did, and the blades spun through the Demon Tide several times over. Almost immediately afterwards, Sora called the blades forth once again as he dived down, and letting the blades spin about him while coiling outwards. This not only seemed to damage the Demon Tide quite a bit, but also sliced up any Shadows that it had detached in an effort to strike back or preserve some strength for later.

Sora's regular attacks were not the only things that had been powered up, as he proved when he next unleashed a number of powerful spells as well. Even his weakest spells seemed to pack the power that was typical of his strongest when he cast them, and they even covered a much larger area than normal. Too bad for the Demon Tide, Sora was not using any of his weakest spells. He was throwing every last ounce of magic power into this fight that he had, and that meant all of his most powerful magic was going into it as well, leaving the Demon Tide to suffer very great damage, while the rest of the guys cheered him on in encouragement, and the girls continued to gape in disbelief at the power he was exuding at the moment. Sure, it might be an even greater give away on his other-worldly origins to Team RWBY, but at the moment, Sora did not really care. All he knew was that this thing had attacked someone he cared about, and he was not going to let that stand.

Despite all the power that Sora threw at the thing, the Demon Tide still persisted in its attack, only now it seemed to take a more defensive approach by doing its best to avoid the transformed teen as best as it could. A futile effort, given that Sora was able to teleport right to its location every time he so much as readied an attack, but it was a good stalling tactic otherwise. After all, Sora could not hold onto the power of Ultimate Form forever, and with how many times he was throwing some of its best combos and combo finishers at the thing, he knew he was going to have end things soon, so he soon flipped back into the air once more, ready to unleash Ultimate Form's finishing move. Using a quick, rapid spin of his body, Sora unleashed a rapid flurry of light blades that dealt rapid damage to the Demon Tide and anything within his immediate surrounding area, and ended it all by sending out one last circle of swords around him in a great radius that the Demon Tide was unfortunate enough to be caught in.

With his finisher unleashed, Sora's clothes changed back to normal, and he let himself fall back to the ground again, barely able to use Glide enough to the point where his landing was not too horrible, but still just strong enough to keep himself from landing in any way that would have been dangerous. He was a little out of breath after all the attacks he had just let loose, and all the magic that he had unleashed as well, but otherwise, he was fine. When Ruby rushed over to check on him, Sora felt like he was getting a little better just from her support, but his mood quickly changed when the Demon Tide suddenly sprung up out of nowhere once again. Clearly it had either managed to find a way to survive Sora's powerful assault, or it was just more powerful than Sora realized. He was just about to try and stand again, even with Ruby's protesting that he was too weak at the moment, when Ventus suddenly came rushing forward while his body started to gain a faint glow of its own.

"Well, if he's not going to bother holding back, we might as well give it everything we've got too," Ventus shouted from where he was. "Command Style: Wingblade!"

Back in the old days, Ventus would have had to power up with another Command Style in order to activate his Wingblade Style, but after coming back, a few special lessons with Aqua, and some private training at Beacon, Ventus had figured out a trick that would let him activate at least this one without having to go through any middle ground. It certainly showed when his body became enveloped in a bright blue aura, while six swords of light spread out from his back in a manner reminiscent of an angel's wings. Taking a huge leap towards the beast, Ventus unleashed several fast, powerful attacks that were only made stronger with how the six swords followed every move he made, often times dealing additional damage with every swing of his sword. Unlike Sora though, Ventus did not let his attack extend out for very long, and went right to his finisher as soon as he could.

Leaping into the air, Ventus threw the glowing swords of light into the ground around the Demon Tide, creating a circular magic emblem of light, which he then landed right in the middle of. When his feet hit the ground, a massive shockwave of light was released, damaging the dark creature several times over. As soon as the light settled, Ventus looked to his target and had to bite back a curse when he saw that the Demon Tide was still standing, in a manner of speaking anyway, but he was not too worried, as he simply glanced over his shoulder and said, "Your turn, Roxas."

Right after Ven had spoken, Roxas leapt over his fellow blonde's head and began to unleash every form of strike that he had at his disposal. Eventually, he even went so far as to switch to just Oathkeeper, and encased it in light so that it was packing even more power when he moved in to slash it several times over. After one last strike, Roxas summoned forth four pillars of light around himself, and sent them flying away in straight paths that guaranteed at least a small hit on the Demon Tide no matter what. Summoning Oblivion once again, Roxas then called forth a similar attack, only this time, he was just firing off fourteen orbs of light that all homed in on the Demon Tide. Every time they hit, the Demon Tide seemed to wither and writhe in pain, but even after all of that, it still would not go down, and Roxas could not use such powerful moves without tiring himself out pretty quickly. Sure, it may have been easy for him once upon a time, but it had been a long time since his days with the Organization, and he was still in the process of regaining some lost strength.

Thankfully, Lea had retained a fair amount of old tricks from his time as Axel, and he proved it when he transformed the ground under the Demon Tide into a sweltering, lava-like surface while a ring of fire encased it in a single area of the town, signaling that it was his turn to attack. Every single inferno that Lea shot off afterwards seemed to be even stronger so long as it was within the fire ring that the redhead had created. At one point, he even melded into the surrounding fire so that he could jump out and land a few surprise attacks on the beast. Too bad for him that such tactics can only work for so long against an enemy like the Demon Tide, and Lea found out when the thing finally managed to bash him out of the fiery enclosing, extinguishing the flames completely when Lea dropped to the ground next to Roxas.

"You okay," Roxas asked as he used Oathkeeper to cast a healing spell on them both.

"Only if you can tell me that we're at least slowing it down," Lea groaned as he felt the magic doing its work on him.

"Hard to say at the moment," Sora replied once he came to stand next to them both, now better rested and ready to fire off Ultima Weapon's Shotlock at the first chance he had.

Team RWBY had some other ideas though, as Yang proved when she suddenly lunged forward and began bashing the Demon Tide on every point that she could while Ember Celica was firing with every punch she threw. Just when the Demon Tide was about to hit her again, Yang used her gauntlets to blast away, and it was at that point that Ruby came rushing in again with aid from her Semblance and scythe. Getting up high and in close to the beast, Ruby sliced away at the Demon Tide as fast as she could, and even fired several rounds from the scythe's sniper while it was in point-blank range, or just so that the attacks that she dealt using her weapon ended up even stronger than they normally would have been. Continuing her team's show of coordination, Ruby then jumped to the side so that Blake could come in and slash at the Demon Tide's base along with her, and the two of them were quickly delivering several fast, slashing attacks until Blake had to use her Semblance to avoid being crushed by the Demon Tide sending several shadows down on her like a long arm.

Weiss easily took notice of this, and immediately rocketed forward with some help from her glyphs so that she could cut apart any more Shadows that dared to approach Blake, giving both of them time to back flip away from the beast when it started throwing more flaming Shadows once again. While Blake came to a stop shortly after the attack had ceased, Weiss went a little further back than her, and, remembering all the practice she and Ven had put in yesterday, she switched Mytenaster's revolver around so that it was loaded with lightning Dust, and created a time dilation glyph beneath Blake's feet. The next time that the Demon Tide launched several Heartless at her, Blake was able to cut down every single one of them, thanks to her movements being sped up by Weiss's glyph, and when you added in the fact that she was using both her actual sword and the bladed edge of her sword's sheath, it was easy to see why she had no trouble not only destroying all of the Heartless that were launched at her, but also strike a very dynamic pose at the end as several of the destroyed Heartless exploded around her.

Seeing what they had just managed to pull off, Blake and Weiss exchanged a knowing smile with each other as the former commented, "We're going to need to remember that one."

"Agreed," Weiss nodded with pride in herself, her teammate, and in the maneuver that they had just pulled off on the fly.

Their celebration was cut short when they noticed that the Demon Tide was still going, and to be quite honest, they were all now very annoyed by this thing surviving so many of their attacks. Even through their annoyance though, they also saw that the beast was now moving much slower, like it was finally on its last legs, so that had to mean that they were close to ending this fight. The only problem was that Sora was not sure if his Ultima Weapon's Shotlock would be enough, and he was very doubtful that he would be able to finish it with Magic Launcher, so you could understand why he was trying to think of an option that had a sure-fire guarantee of succeeding.

Sadly, none of Sora's ideas seemed likely to work without all of them having at least half of their full strength, at least in terms of magic, and some of the others must have realized this too, because Lea soon let out a small groan as he asked, "Where's some of our best magic users when we need them?"

What happened next would have made you think that the universe was granting the heroes a lucky break, or that the person responsible had been waiting for just that question before they jumped in, but none of them really cared at the moment considering that it was just the save that they needed. Right when the Demon Tide was about to make another run at them, a brilliant light suddenly shone down on all of them, making the beast recoil a little like the light was hurting it, and then a figure dropped between the group of eight and the Heartless as she aimed her blade towards the Demon Tide and shouted, "BLIZZAZA!"

When the light finally died down enough for everyone to see without having to cover their eyes, the girls of Team RWBY were all left stunned once again. Not by the fact that the Demon Tide seemed to have been completely frozen in ice, but by the person who had clearly performed the act. Standing before them, with her back facing them, was a blonde haired, rather petite-looking girl that seemed to be the same age as Sora and Roxas, clad in a white dress that ended at her mid-thighs in an embroidered lace pattern and light blue sandals that were decorated with yellow flowers. What really caught the girls' attention was that in her hand, was a Keyblade that was colored red, blue, and green, with the tip being a golden eight-pointed star inside of a silver circle, while the teeth were made up of three, different colored stars. Upon turning around to face them, the girl allowed everyone to see her rosy cheeks, bright blue eyes, and pale pink lips that were curled up in a smile when she laid eyes on the boys.

"You rang," the blonde girl jokingly questioned with a wave of her Keyblade, which the boys all knew to be called Fairy Stars.

"Nice timing, Naminé," Lea grinned in thanks.

"Aw yeah! That's my sister," Roxas cheered proudly, while Sora just beamed happily in thanks.

Ventus would have joined in on the celebration had he not thought of something that made him instantly go pale, and he could not stop himself from reminding the others of that. "Uh guys…" he called out, and even with how weak his voice was at the moment, they still managed to hear him somehow. "Who was Naminé paired up with again?"

None of them answered that question with words, but instead, with the way that they went just as pale as Ventus the minute they realized what Naminé's arrival in Twilight Town likely meant. Trying to stay optimistic as always, Sora quickly offered up a course of action for the group. "Okay, calm down. No need to panic just yet. Maybe she's still a good ways behind Naminé, so we just need to kill the Demon Tide as quickly as possible, and then make a break for the stealth gummi ship so we can get out of here before she shows up."

"Great plan, aside from the fact that a certain bunch of somebodies aren't likely to let us leave right after beating that thing," Roxas pointed out as he indicated both Team RWBY and the Demon Tide respectively.

Sora was about to either offer another solution or ask if Roxas had any better ideas, when the sound of ice cracking reached their ears, and they all turned to see that the Demon Tide was already starting to break free from its icy prison. The group all prepared themselves for battle once again, but just after the Demon Tide broke loose, a massive number of light chains suddenly wrapped around it, encasing it into a relatively medium sized sphere, and then pulled it over into a nearby wall. The chains continued to hold their captive in place, and from the look of things, it did not seem like the Demon Tide had the strength to put up much of a fight anyway. Not that it mattered, since the caster of those light chains was already ready moving into position to fire off her next attack, as she shouted out, "Prism Rain!"

Following that declaration, several light beams that each took on one of the many colors in the rainbow came down on the captured Demon Tide, and they were quickly followed by several more salvos of similar blasts. The last bombardment proved to be the thing that finally brought an end to the Demon Tide at last, and the group all watched as the beast went up in smoke and ash. When the smoke from the destroyed Heartless finally cleared, another new arrival dropped down to the ground, proving exactly what Team SLVR had been worried about. Not that they really needed much more evidence, since there was only one person who could use the Prism Rain Shotlock, but seeing the blue haired woman in question, garbed in her regular warrior's attire did help to drive the point home for the guys.

"Uh-oh," Ventus muttered.

"Oh stars," Sora added on.

"We're dead," Lea and Roxas both said at the same time, and they were most likely right about that, as the blue haired woman immediately spun around and gave all four of the boys a glare that was so hot you would think it was backed by at least several different suns.

"Who's that," Yang asked.

"And why is she looking at us like that," Blake added while fingering her weapon in case this was a new enemy.

"She's not looking at _you_. She's just looking at _us_," Lea corrected, but somehow, that did not make the girls feel much better.

"Sora Hikari, Ventus Kunsanagi, Lea Firebrand, and Roxas Sheru," Keyblade Master Aqua roared as she stomped closer to the group.

"How'd she know that he'd settled on Sheru for his last name," Ventus asked, only to suddenly have Aqua's glare turn onto him with even greater intensity. "You know what, I'll worry about that later."

"Uh…H-hey Aqua," Sora greeted in his best attempt at trying to sound overly affectionate and sweet. It did not work, and not just because of the stuttering and nervousness.

"Oh, don't you 'Hey Aqua' me, Mister," Aqua snapped, making Sora and the boys all flinch back in fear. "You four go gallivanting off on a whole new adventure, and on a world that none of us have ever even heard of, let alone been to before, and you didn't even once think to tell me before taking off?! I swear, when I'm done with you, the Heartless, the Unversed, Xehanort, and every other major villain each of you have ever faced will look like scared little kittens in comparison!"

The boys had all known that they had messed up by not telling Aqua about their mission before going to Remnant, but it was not until this moment that they truly realized how badly they had screwed up. "Maybe we should've just run for it after killing the Demon Tide and let the girls kill us for not answering their questions right away like we said we would," Lea muttered.

Hearing the redhead mention that gave Sora what he believed would be the perfect idea on how to escape Aqua's wrath, or at least put it at bay for a short time, and he quickly put on another charming smile as he said, "Now Aqua, I know you're mad, and you have every right to be, but do you really want to show your…less pleasant side to our new friends?"

Miraculously, Aqua did stop short of raining down mystical punishment on the boys when she heard that, and she quirked a surprised brow at Sora as she repeated, "New friends?"

It was easy enough for the rest of the boys to catch on to what Sora had just planned at the spur of the moment, and Ventus was the first to react by leading most of them over to where the huntresses-in-training were standing, making them into unwitting human shields against Aqua's wrath. "Yes, this is Team RWBY, some of our friends from Remnant," Ventus announced while putting his hands on Blake and Weiss's shoulders, while Sora did the same with Ruby and Yang, and Lea just hung back behind all of them. "Girls, this is Aqua, Keyblade master, gifted mage, guardian of the Land of Departure, and the big sister that I never had."

"And speaking of sisters, this is my twin sister," Roxas revealed as he slid over to wrap an arm around Naminé.

"Hello; I'm Naminé. It's nice to meet you all," the blonde girl smiled pleasantly.

"Hi-ya, Naminé, Aqua. I'm Yang," the powerhouse of Team RWBY introduced, prompting a chorus of introductions from the rest of the team.

"Blake."

"I'm Weiss."

"And I'm Ruby, team leader and Yang's younger sister."

"Oh, uh…hello there," Aqua stuttered, now feeling a little embarrassed for her outburst. "Sorry you all had to see that just now, but well…Ven's like family to me, and the same applies to most of these other boys as well, so I get a little nervous when they rush off without a word, and well…"

"Oh, you don't have to explain. From one big sister to another, I totally get it," Yang reassured the blue haired girl.

"Regardless of the circumstances, it is a great pleasure to meet you at last, Master Aqua. Ven and the others have told us quite a bit about you," Weiss nodded as she performed a light curtsy to the Keyblade master.

That got the Keyblade wielders and the rest of Weiss's team to exchange bewildered looks, until Ventus finally asked, "Uh Weiss? What're you doing?"

"I'm trying to be respectful. Why? Is it offensive for me to do this," Weiss whispered in reply, sounding a little panicked at the end.

"No, no, it's not but…well…" Ventus reassured her, even though he was not really sure what else to say after that.

"Just stand up straight. She's not a queen, you know," Sora finally told Weiss. He then paused to think for a minute as he muttered, "Well, I mean, she is technically in charge of the Land of Departure, so I guess that would kind of make her a queen, maybe. Aqua does that count?"

"No, it doesn't. Ven, Terra, and I may live in a castle, but we're not royalty, and neither was Master Eraqus, and he was guardian for both our world and home long before I was," Aqua explained.

Now Weiss felt a little silly, and quickly stood up straight once again and said, "Sorry about that. I just…wanted to make sure you would like me."

"Hey, if you're friends with these guys, you don't have to worry about that," Aqua reassured her. That made Weiss relax a bit, until Aqua asked, "But why would you want me to like you specifically?"

"Uh…Well…N-no reason," Weiss stuttered in response, unable to stop herself from blushing a bit.

Seeing the blush and taking note of how Ven was the first one to help the white haired girl relax, Aqua was able to start putting more than a few pieces into place, and could not help but smirk towards Ventus at the prospects that this offered her. Not that her friend seemed to realize any of this, given his bewildered look, but she would likely do something to fix that later on. Right now, there were more important things to deal with. "You know, friends or not, I'm actually a little surprised that Ven and the others brought you all along with them, let alone allowed you to actually fight against something like the Demon Tide," Aqua admitted, her look now going from Ventus to Sora while changing from teasing to knowing and slightly accusatory.

"What," Sora asked, not understanding why she was looking at him like that right away. He managed to figure it out quickly enough though. "Okay, hey! Don't look at me like that! This wasn't _my_ idea! They insisted on letting them help us, and for the record, we didn't bring them along. They stowed away after _Axel_ left the door open."

"Oh, thanks for throwing me under the gummi ship, _buddy_," Lea retorted with a glare in Sora's direction.

"Wait, why would you board the ship the old fashioned way in the first place? Couldn't you have just used the gummi ship's teleporter," Naminé questioned.

Upon hearing the former memory witch's question, Ventus, Roxas, and Lea all slowly turned to glare at Sora, who could only nervously chuckle in response before he defended, "Okay, to be fair, I wasn't sure if the ship still had that or not, and after the way we landed on Remnant, I also had not been entirely sure if it had been repaired or not, even after all this time. Besides, it's not like we couldn't have used the exercise, right?"

"Speak for yourself, lazy bones," Lea huffed. "Unlike you, the rest of us work hard and actually do need some sleep."

"Axel, Sora works harder than the rest us, and especially you, Mister I-Spend-My-Day-Off-Sleeping," Roxas retorted in Sora's defense. "To paraphrase something Xion once said, unlike me, Ven, and Sora, maybe you're just out of shape."

"Ha, ha, ha," Lea grumbled while the others just let out good-natured laughs at his expense.

"Speaking of ships and all this talk about other worlds…" Blake suddenly interrupted, reminding both her teammates and the boys about a certain matter that they still needed to address.

Hearing their dark-haired teammate's comment, the rest of Team RWBY all turned demanding looks onto the boys, most of them with their arms crossed for added effect, eliciting a new wave of nervousness from the guys. "You guys did promise to explain everything to us after the battle was over," Ruby pointed out.

"They did," Aqua and Naminé asked while giving the boys a few judging looks as well.

"Well it's not like we can really change what happened, and they've already seen a lot more than most people should. We don't really have a choice in the matter now," Roxas pointed out.

"I could always erase their memories," Naminé offered.

"…You can do that," Roxas asked in wonder. He knew that Naminé still had some of her old memory powers, and that she could now use them on anyone whether they had ties to Sora or not, but last he checked she was still learning how to better use and control them, and this was the first he had ever heard of Naminé possessing that particular ability.

Team RWBY on the other hand was much more nervous than they were intrigued. The idea of someone actually modifying or just outright erasing their memories was frightening to say the least, and that was without the casual way that Naminé had offered to do it in. Sure, it did seem like this whole thing was a pretty big deal, given the boys' reactions upon realizing that they had found out about all of this, but to hear that it would warrant such an extreme reaction made them wonder if it was really worth all the trouble that they had gone through to learn about it. Not that they would have changed anything that had happened if they had the chance; they would likely do it all over again if they had the choice. After all, they had just helped Sora and the others save an entire town from a very dangerous Heartless, even if their contributions were not quite as grand and spectacular as those of the Keybearers, and experienced things that no one else on Remnant had likely ever experienced before. They did not want to lose all of that.

As it turned out, they did not have anything to worry about, because before Naminé could answer, Sora cut in. "No," Sora refused, surprising everyone with how serious he sounded. "We…I gave my word to them that we would come clean, and I'm not going to break that promise just because of some stupid world order rules. Besides, if you guys really trust me, then shouldn't it be enough when I say that I trust them?"

It really touched the girls' hearts when they heard Sora stick up for them like that, and that was especially true for Ruby. Not only was Sora going to keep his promise to them, or more accurately to her, but given the conviction in his voice, it seemed that he really did trust them with whatever big secret that was involved in all of this. The fact that it looked like he was willing to stand up to his friends for their sake certainly reinforced that idea, just as the blush that she could feel on her face right now seemed to prove once again that her sister was right to say that she had a crush on Sora, at the very least. Of course, she and her teammates were not the only ones that were moved by Sora's little speech.

The rest of Team SLVR also smiled in relief upon hearing Sora speaking up in Team RWBY's defense, and hearing him insist on telling them the full truth was something they were going to take as another sign that the old Sora was still in there. The latter sentiment was shared by both Naminé and Aqua, given how they were also smiling in relief after hearing what Sora said, and given how sure he sounded about trusting these girls, how could they argue against letting the boys spill the secret? Besides, they were already here, and Naminé had actually been joking a little when she said that she could erase memories, so it was not like they had any other choice. "Okay, but first, we should let everyone know it's safe to return to the city, and then find somewhere a little more private," Aqua ordered.

"On it," Lea replied while pulling out his Gummiphone in order to call Isa and the rest of the Twilight Town gang. "And luckily, I know just the place for a private conversation."

"Clock tower," Roxas asked, knowingly.

"Clock tower," Lea confirmed. "And more than that, I'd say that everyone's earned the icing on the cake, wouldn't you, bud?"

"Definitely," Roxas agreed.

"Okay, now what're you two going on about," Weiss asked.

"You'll see. Just follow us," Roxas replied with a wave of his hand to indicate that they should follow him. "Meet you there, Axel."

"Like that's ever in doubt," Lea playfully questioned before moving in a different direction.

The girls were now more curious than ever about what sort of strangeness was going on now, but Sora had promised to answer all of their questions, so they just shrugged it off and followed after their guides. Though there was no denying that they all had a new wave of excitement building up inside at the prospect of learning about Team SLVR's secrets at last, even if it was lined with a bit of trepidation.

* * *

"Woooooow," Ruby cooed in awe barely seconds after they had all arrived at the top of the Twilight Town station's clock tower. It was a bit of a tight squeeze to get everyone up there on Roxas and Lea's favorite spot, but somehow, they ended up managing to pull it off, and now, the Remnant girls were all able to take in the magnificent sight of a Twilight Town sunset with their own eyes.

"I've seen a lot of sunsets, but I don't think I can remember any of them being as nice as this," Blake admitted with a peaceful smile.

"I don't think I've ever even seen anything in Atlas that's as beautiful as this," Weiss added with her own admission.

"Yeah, the view of Beacon from Vale, and the view of the school right after we got off the airship on our first day definitely have nothing on this," Yang agreed.

"Naturally," Roxas nodded like it should have been obvious. "There's a lot of reasons why this world is called Twilight Town after all, and the biggest one is because you won't find very many places with a more amazing sunset. Of course, this is definitely the best spot for watching them, but I may be a little biased, all things considered."

The way Roxas had worded some of that had the girls a little perplexed, but they were unable to call him out on it since Lea chose just that moment to finally arrive. "Hey, hope you guys didn't start without me," Lea greeted with a wave.

"No, we were just waiting on you," Roxas reassured him. He then became a little more excited as he asked, "Did you get it?"

"I'm offended you even _thought_ it was necessary to ask," Lea scoffed in return as he produced the item that Roxas was referring to. "Take one down, pass it around, and enjoy the icing on the cake."

"Yes! Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme," Roxas cheered as he nearly jumped at Lea for the treats that the redhead had started passing out. The minute he had his own in hand, Roxas let out a longing sigh as he said, "Oh sweet, darling wonder. How I have missed you."

"Addict," Ventus playfully teased with a roll of his eyes.

RWBY on the other hand, could only look at what they had been given in confusion, while trying to puzzle just what it was that Lea had handed them. "Is this…some kind of ice cream," Blake finally asked.

"Not just any kind of ice cream. Its sea-salt ice cream, the best cold treat you'll ever have," Roxas declared proudly, almost sounding like he was the one who had created the flavor.

Unsurprisingly, Weiss was the first one to give a voice of skepticism. "Sea-salt ice cream? That sounds incredibly gross."

"I actually have to agree with Weiss," Yang admitted, as strange as it seemed. "That really doesn't sound like a flavor that many people would enjoy."

"What? Are you kidding? Everyone loves it," Roxas protested.

"He's not wrong. Everyone that we know who's ever tried this ice cream does like it a lot, and once they have tried it the first time, they can never get enough," Sora confirmed. His defense of the treat soon turned into a moment of teasing as he added, "No one's quite as bad about it as Roxas and Axel, but…"

"Hey you! Don't make me take that ice cream away from you and throw it over the ledge," Lea threatened while waving his popsicle at Sora in a similar manner.

"Just try at least one bite. Trust me, you won't regret it," Ventus gently encouraged the girls.

When they saw Aqua and Naminé nodding along in agreement, Team RWBY figured that they did not have much to lose and decided to give the strange treat a try. Besides, from the way that the boys were going on about it, the girls had a hunch that they would withhold answering any questions until they did as Ventus was asking. So, on the count of three, the girls all took a quick, small bite of their popsicle, and almost immediately after, flinched back a little as the first bit of the ice cream's taste came over their taste buds.

"Ugh, it's really salty," Weiss grumbled in displeasure.

"And yet…really sweet too," Ruby added after the saltiness in her mouth had passed for the more favorable side of the ice cream flavor.

"Good right," Roxas asked.

"It's a little surprising, and may take some getting used to," Blake started to say.

"But yeah, this is really good," Yang finally concluded, and it seemed like the rest of the team agreed with her on that.

With the entirety of Team RWBY now giving a seal of approval for sea-salt ice cream, everyone found themselves falling into an amicable silence while enjoying the rest of their frozen treats for a good amount of time. Not that you could blame them. When you have a good spot, some tasty treats, and good friends all in one place, you can't help but let your troubles take a back seat so that you can enjoy the moment for a little bit. Nothing lasts forever though, because once she was at least halfway through her ice cream, Ruby looked to her Keyblade wielding friends and said, "So, are you all ready to finally fill us in on the big secret?"

"That depends. What do you want to know," Sora asked in return.

"Everything," Weiss answered as simply as you please.

"As long as you're comfortable with it," Yang quickly reassured them. Just because they were pulling some answers out of the boys, it did not mean that they should make them share things that they did not enjoy thinking about for one reason or another.

Aqua, Naminé, and Team SLVR all nodded in thanks to Yang for that, and while the two girls had decided that they would offer their two cents here and there, they were still planning on letting the boys take point for this conversation. With that said, they were a little surprised when most of them turned to Ven, and immediately thought that they were volunteering him as their spokesperson for the whole thing. The truth of the matter was that the boys had been preparing for a scenario like this, and had determined in advance that Ventus should be the one to lead into the heart of the matter. Ven had no problem with it, and thus, he started things off by saying, "Let me ask you girls this: have you ever wondered what stars are, or where their light comes from?"

While Weiss had a pretty good idea where he was going with this after hearing that question, the rest of her team was of a different story. "I mean, kind of," Ruby admitted with a shrug.

"I always kind of figured they were just giant balls of flaming gas, kind of like the sun," Yang admitted.

"Why does it not surprise me that you think something like that involves flames," Blake questioned.

"That is one good guess, though, but there's another idea as well," Ventus revealed. "They say that every star you see up in the sky is another world."

"Another…world," Ruby repeated in question, but there was no denying the awe that was slowly creeping into her voice at the thought of such a thing.

"Yep, hard to believe there are so many worlds out there besides your own, isn't it," Ventus smiled in confirmation, feeling a sense of déjà vu as he spoke. You could not blame him though, because this felt almost exactly like a conversation he had with Terra so long ago, only now, he was the one explaining the legend. Sure, he had already done so with Weiss, but the sense of déjà vu was only really making itself known now that he was telling it to Ruby and the rest of the all-girl team. "The light is their hearts, and it's shinning down on us like a million lanterns." Before he could go any further, he heard a familiar bit of laughter start ringing out, and he instantly turned to the blue haired culprit in question. "Hey, Aqua, what're you laughing at?"

"I can't help it," Aqua admitted. "It's just so weird hearing you sound so much like Terra, and it all reminds me of what I said to you guys the night before mine and Terra's Mark of Mastery exam. You two would make the weirdest brothers."

Hearing that reminder along with a new string of laughter from one of his oldest friends put a smile on Ven's face as he joined in on the laughter, but it did not last for very long, as Weiss had to interrupt, despite how cute the moment seemed to be. "No offense, Ven, but what does this legend that your friend told you once have to do with anything," the heiress inquired.

Ventus did his best to control his chuckles, but he still smiled when he replied, "Everything, because in point of fact, as I'm sure you've probably guessed by now, we're actually on an entirely different world from Remnant right now."

That surprised the four girls quite a bit, but they were still a bit skeptical of the claim. "You're telling us that this whole town isn't part of Remnant, but an entirely different world on its own," Blake asked.

"But that's…That's impossible," Yang protested. She did not want to sound like a skeptic, or at least not as big of one as Weiss probably would be, but the claim was still pretty unbelievable.

"Hey, when you so much as meet someone who has a Keyblade, the line between possible and impossible becomes blurred to the point of nonexistence faster than you can say Kingdom Hearts," Lea informed the girls. "Twilight Town is actually the world that Roxas and I call home, even if it isn't the world that I was born and spent most of my years growing up on."

"Not only that, but each of us are all from different worlds as well," Roxas said as he waved between the Keyblade wielders. "Ventus and Aqua come from a world that rests on the boundary between the realms of light and darkness, known as the Land of Departure, and Sora, he's from a small world made up of islands and vast oceans known as the Destiny Islands."

"Not to mention that Sora has all kinds of friends on several different worlds too, including the world that Lea was born on, Radiant Garden," Ventus finished.

"So you guys are all from different worlds, and have traveled to each other's worlds too," Ruby asked in awe.

"Pretty much," Sora confirmed. "As wielders of the Keyblade, we do possess the means of reaching other worlds, but that does come with a huge responsibility as well."

"What kind of responsibility," Blake asked.

"To protect the balance between light and darkness and to keep the worlds safe from anyone that would seek to cause trouble on that world, just to name a couple," Ventus informed them. "At the same time though, we can't just go around telling everyone about other worlds, because they're supposed to be kept a secret."

"He's right. If everyone on every world knew that other worlds existed, the results could be very catastrophic, so it's our job to maintain both the balance and the peace between each world while keeping the secret safe in order to maintain the world order," Aqua elaborated while keeping it as simple as possible.

"I guess I can see why you guys would want to keep that a secret from us, but why did it mean you guys had to lie to us about what you could do," Ruby questioned.

"Well, I'm sure you already figured out that we don't actually use Dust in our fights, but real magic, and since magic doesn't exist on Remnant, we had to come up with a cover story of some kind in order to protect that bit of world order," Sora explained. "It's not always easy doing so either. Trust me, I speak from experience."

"We all can," Roxas pointed out with a small frown. "And not all of those experiences are very great."

"What's that supposed to mean," Blake asked. She was not demanding an answer this time; she was just curious, but at the same time, she was also a little nervous about what they would learn.

The boys shared a look between one another and with Aqua and Naminé, just to make sure none of them had any reservations about sharing this part, and when they saw none in any of their eyes beyond the obvious, Ventus took point once again and said, "To really understand that, you'd have to understand our full story, and that all began a little over eleven years ago, on the day when Aqua, Terra, and I had all gathered with our late master, Eraqus, and the man who would become our greatest enemy, for Aqua and Terra's Mark of Mastery exam…"

From that moment on, the boys spoke only of the long story that was their adventures and struggles against Master Xehanort, with Aqua and Naminé helping to fill in some details here and there. They did not go too far into all the details, mind you, as there were still some things about their histories that they did not want to share. This was not to say that they did not share anything that made them uncomfortable, but that was mainly because there was no way for the story to really make sense to the girls if they did not include those details. The biggest example of things that they had to share was the fact that Lea had been a member of the Organization, but they did their best to keep any mention of Roxas being a member out of it. All they really said was that Roxas had once been targeted by the Organization because of his ability to use the Keyblade, and he had to give up a great deal in order for Sora and the others to stop the group. Another thing that they made a point to not go too far into detail about was anything regarding Kairi. Yes, they mentioned that Sora had first journeyed through the worlds to save his best friends, but the only one of those friends that they ever mentioned by name was Riku. It was actually impressive how they managed to keep Kairi out of the story so much, and even more so that doing so had not gotten Sora upset, but they had to figure that the chances of upsetting Sora were a lot greater if they did bring up the lost Princess of Heart, so they took what victories that they could get.

Everything else though was laid before the girls like an open book, almost as though they had let the girls read Jiminy's digital journal on the Gummiphone. Everything from Ventus, Aqua, and Terra's struggles against the Unversed, to their final battle with Xehanort and Vanitas in the Keyblade Graveyard, and how in its aftermath, Ventus had fallen into a deep coma, Terra was possessed by Xehanort, and Aqua was stranded in Dark World. From the day when Destiny Islands was lost to darkness and Sora first got the Keyblade, to how he had journeyed across so many worlds that first time to save his friends and stop Maleficent and the Heartless the first time around, and right up to his final battle against Xehanort's Heartless. After that particular story, Naminé had pitched in and told everyone about the events that had taken place when Sora first visited Castle Oblivion, and by the time she had finished, Ruby and Yang had all nearly jumped up to give her the biggest comforting hug that they could muster in an effort to help ease the pain of remembering what she had gone through back then. Blake and Weiss had felt the same urge as well, but just barely stopped themselves from following through like the sisters. At least at first, but in the end, they could not help but hug Naminé as well.

The stories did not stop there though, because even without going into all the details about Roxas's past involvement with the Organization, they did still tell about how Sora and his friends stopped the first Organization XIII and their plans for the worlds. After that came the tale behind Sora and Riku's journey through the sleeping worlds, and how it served as their Mark of Mastery exam, and that came with the sad tale of how Sora had nearly become one of Xehanort's thirteen Seekers of Darkness. Hearing that such a kind, caring person like Sora had nearly ended up being subjected to such a cruel fate had made all four girls feel a need to tear Xehanort apart, and Ruby had even gotten up from where she was sitting so that she could promise to track down wherever Xehanort was at that very moment and give him a very up-close and personal introduction to Crescent Rose. Thankfully, Aqua was able to help calm Ruby down by reassuring her that Xehanort had failed and was already gone for good, thanks in no small part to Sora, but she did still find it very interesting how passionately Ruby had reacted to hearing that Xehanort had hurt Sora in the way that he had.

Of course, mentioning that Xehanort was gone for good did mean that they had to tell the girls the final story about how the old coot had finally been defeated for good, and by that point; the girls were on the edge of their seats in excitement. Hearing about how it involved Sora traveling to a lot of different worlds in order to obtain the Power of Waking, and how despite the fact he had not gone with Riku and Mickey right away, it still fell to Sora to help bring Aqua back home to the realm of light had left the girls feeling like they had severely underestimated just how much Sora was truly capable of at one point or another, but that notion quickly passed. After all, it had already become very clear that he had the power, skill, and strength of character to make things like that possible, but even with learning about all the other good things that had followed Aqua's return, like how they brought back Ventus, Terra, Roxas, and Xion, there was still the less pleasant matters to bring up as well.

Even at this point, they still did not mention Kairi by name, but they did reveal that Xehanort had struck down a very good friend of Sora's in order to further motivate him into acting. That had upset them all quite a bit, but only Ruby noticed how Sora's hands had clenched tightly upon being reminded of that particular moment, and she had to wonder just how important this friend really was to him. Sure, she knew that she was pressing them for answers right now, but she knew when to not push an issue, and this definitely qualified as one such time from what Ruby could tell. Despite not getting a full story and just the basic understanding of why that moment was likely one of the worst in Sora's life, Ruby and the girls were still glad to hear that Sora had given Xehanort exactly what was coming to the old man, even while he had the power of the ultimate Keyblade in his possession. The only thing that made them feel even a little better about the whole thing after that was when the guys ended by explaining their full reasons for coming to Remnant at last, or at least as much as they could without revealing anything specific about Kairi.

"…So then we got to Beacon, met you and all the rest of our new pals, and you pretty much know the rest from there," Lea finally concluded.

Team RWBY could only sit there and stare at the boys for a little bit, until Yang finally muttered, "Sweet Oum."

"You can say that again," Blake agreed.

"You guys and your friends seem to have been living the lives of huntsmen even before attending Beacon. It actually makes me wonder why you're even bothering with going to the school in the first place," Ruby admitted.

"Hey, just because we've done some amazing things and gotten really strong and powerful, doesn't mean there isn't still a few things we can learn and improve on," Sora pointed out, showing one of his rare moments of maturity when he did.

As tempting as it was to point that out and tease him for it, none of his friends did so, since they did not want to step on his moment too much. That, and there was also the fact that Weiss had asked a very important question almost immediately after that. "Still, what makes you really think that you're missing friend is on Remnant," the heiress questioned.

"They're there. I'm sure of it. I have to believe that our friend is somewhere on Remnant, and that we're going to find them," Sora insisted with conviction so clear that you would think it was a perfectly made piece of glass. "Besides, Master Yen Sid said that he had been able to track them to Remnant, and I doubt he would've sent us there on a wild goose chase, right?"

Even before he had finished his question, Aqua had started to tense up and get nervous, but thankfully, Sora did not notice. Naminé and the rest of the guys had though, and they all easily figured out that she knew something that she felt Sora should not know just yet. That did not mean they were going to let her keep it from the rest of them though, but they had to get rid of Sora before they could question the Keyblade master on anything. Luckily, they knew just the thing that would be guaranteed to get Sora away for a little bit.

"Hey Sora," Roxas called out. "I'm pretty sure that Hayner and the rest of the gang should've gotten everyone back into the town by now. Why don't you see if you can track them down so you can introduce the girls to them?"

"Oh, great idea," Sora agreed with a smile. Upon jumping to his feet, he immediately held out a hand to Ruby, and said, "Come on! You guys are going to love meeting all the friends we've made on this world, and I'll bet that Uncle Scrooge might still be here too."

"Uncle Scrooge," Ruby questioned as she accepted the hand up, much to nearly everyone's smirking amusement.

"He's my friend Donald's rich uncle. He runs a local bistro here in Twilight Town and has a movie theater business going just across the way. Trust me, he's a business tycoon that you don't want to make an enemy out of," Sora explained.

"I'm sure he can't be that good," Weiss insisted.

"Oh, he is," Sora insisted. "He's not just a businessman, he's one of the greatest adventurers in all the worlds too, so he's not just blowing smoke whenever he says that he made his fortune by being tougher than the toughies, smarter than the smarties, and sharper than the sharpies." When the girls just looked at him after hearing the remark, Sora merely said, "His words, not mine."

Team RWBY all nodded along after hearing that, and had soon disappeared from view afterwards, leaving only the rest of Team SLVR, Naminé, and Aqua on the clock tower. Even then, the boys all made sure that they kept quiet until after they saw their five friends walk out of the train station and towards the town before they finally rounded on the Keyblade master. "Okay, Aqua, spill it," Ventus instantly demanded once Sora and the others were long gone.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Aqua immediately denied.

"Uh-huh. Do you really think any of us are going to buy that," Lea rhetorically questioned. "You got all nervous when Sora mentioned how Yen Sid had tracked Kairi down to Remnant, so what's the matter?"

Seeing that the others all looked just as determined to get an explanation out of her, Aqua knew she was backed into a corner, so she simply sighed and revealed what she knew. "Shortly after I found out about your mission, I went to Yen Sid and asked him for all the details. Riku had actually been there at the time too, so he learned about all of this at the same time I did, and he was not any happier about it than I think you guys will be."

"What do you mean," Roxas inquired, suddenly feeling nervous.

Even though she had steeled her resolve for this moment, Aqua was still really hesitant to admit any of this, but she knew that there was no way around it now. "The truth is…Yen Sid doesn't really know for sure if Kairi is on Remnant or not."

"WHAT," all three boys and Naminé all shouted as one, each in varying degrees of outrage.

"Are you telling me that the old man really did send us on what could be a wild goose chase and didn't think to be upfront and tell us the truth about it," Lea demanded, hotly.

"I never said that," Aqua quickly reassured, calming everyone down a little bit. "He does think that Kairi is on Remnant, but it's only his best guess as to where she is right now. Or at least it was at the time, because he had sensed a very powerful light coming from Remnant when he looked there. It was not until after you all left that he became a little less sure."

"Why? What happened," Ventus asked.

"He had called his friend, someone I think you all know as Professor Ozpin, right," Aqua questioned, just to make sure she was remembering right. When the guys confirmed that she was, she continued on, "In that conversation, Ozpin revealed that one of the New Seven Hearts is likely on Remnant. After that, Yen Sid made it a point to reach out a little more with his senses to see if he had accidentally made a mistake and mistook this new Princess of Heart's light for Kairi's. That's when things got a little more…complicated."

"How could they possibly be complicated? I mean, even if one of the New Seven is on Remnant, Kairi's both a Princess of Heart, previous and new, and a Keyblade wielder. She would have to stand apart from any other powerful light without even trying. It's not like he only sensed one powerful light when he made that second scan," Lea reasoned out. His only answer was a brief silence, and that made him and the others start to worry. "Did he?"

"That's the thing. He did sense more than one light, but neither of them were powerful enough to be Kairi's, or at least not at the strength of what we've known Kairi's light to be now," Aqua revealed. "He's not sure if that means that two of the New Seven are on Remnant like with Arendelle, if something is trying to hide Kairi's light from us, if something had somehow weakened her light, or even if…"

"If what," Ventus hesitantly encouraged, not entirely sure if he wanted Aqua to finish that last idea, but still not liking how she left it hanging at the end.

"…If there was just nothing of Kairi to find there," Aqua finally said. Silence hung in the air for a brief period before Aqua went on to say, "After that, Yen Sid started searching the other worlds again, this time going over them all with a fine-tooth comb in an effort to locate Kairi, but he found nothing even close to what he had sensed from Remnant, not even a clue as to where the rest of the New Seven Hearts could be."

"So why didn't anyone contact us? Sora has a right to know about this," Roxas insisted.

"Roxas, do you really think he could handle learning about something like that right now," Naminé asked in Aqua's place. "You four have been around Sora more than anyone else in our group has been lately, so do you really think he could handle the idea that his search may be in vain, and that there may be a chance that Kairi really is gone for good?"

None of the boys had the heart to answer, be it with a lie or with the truth, and that was answer enough for Aqua and Naminé. They all knew just how much Sora had been affected by the loss of Kairi, and by how Yen Sid had forbade him from using the Power of Waking to bring her back. If he were to learn about this, there was no doubt that he would be crushed beyond repair in a best case scenario. That did not make it feel anymore right to hide this information from them, but given that they were almost always around Sora at Beacon, they could understand why the others had not shared such crucial information with them until now. Still, it left one thing unanswered.

"Not that I don't appreciate what we've been doing at Beacon, or the friends we've made while on Remnant at all, but if all of this really is for nothing, then what the hell are we even still doing there if the old man really was wrong," Lea asked.

"He still wants to be sure that he had not made a mistake when he first suspected Kairi was on Remnant," Aqua explained. "He still wants you all to keep looking for any sign of her, but on the off-chance that Master Yen Sid was wrong, and Kairi isn't there then…" This part really hurt Aqua to say every time she even thought about it, but she knew that they had to face the very real possibility of this reality, no matter how much it hurt. She just wished that saying it out loud did not make it feel like the chances of it becoming more likely were increasing. "…Then this may be the only place where Sora can learn to move on from her."

* * *

It was a few hours later when the five Keybearers had finally left the clock tower, and in all that time, they had done a lot of silent thinking. What Aqua said had made sense. There was no way that even Yen Sid would have been one hundred percent certain in his claim of Kairi being on Remnant, especially when you factored in the possibility that there could be another Princess of Heart on the same world, but the idea that she probably was not there at all, or may even be gone for good like she and maybe even Yen Sid were probably implying was just too much to take in for them. With that in mind, it made a little more sense as to why no one had told Sora about this. If he knew, then it would be like the fallout that he had after waking up in the Mysterious Tower all over again at best, only this time around, he would not just be upset; he would be heartbroken, too, and there would be no way that he would ever comeback from that chasm of depression. Sure, Sora was strong, but there was no telling if it was possible for him to recover from something as big as that. No matter how many times the boys told themselves that though, they just could not assuage the guilt that they felt at deciding to hide all of this from their friend.

They probably would have told him straight up what they had learned the next time they saw him, and it looked like Naminé would have backed them up on that completely, given how she had reacted to hearing this news. Aqua would not have blamed them if they did, because she was right there with them on this, but they all felt any resolve crumble the minute that they finally found Sora and the girls again. Apparently, at some point after he had parted ways with them, Sora had ended up not only taking the girls on his own little tour of Twilight Town, but he had also run into Scrooge McDuck and Little Chef. It made sense given how Weiss looked like she was just starting to calm down from a recent freak out, no doubt brought on from discovering that a rat was apparently cooking food at the bistro, but what really made them freeze was what they saw in Sora himself as he and the girls continued to hang around the richest duck in the worlds.

Sora was not just smiling wider than they had seen him smile in some time, even after they had first arrived at Beacon, but he was laughing, joking around, and even seemed likely to start bouncing off the walls in excitement, much like he did before the final battle of the Second Keyblade War. Even his posture seemed more relaxed than ever, and there was this bright, twinkle in his eyes that they had not seen since he woke up in Yen Sid's tower after that moment. Sure, you could chalk it up to saying that it was simply something that was brought on in the rush of the moment, but from what all five of the other Keyblade wielders could tell, it was not just that. If anything, they would all say that it likely had something to do with a certain hooded huntress-in-training, and it seemed pretty well justified given how close Sora and Ruby were standing to each other at the moment, along with the fact that there was a very similar shine to Ruby's eyes as well.

Seeing all of this made Naminé and Aqua think that maybe it was too soon to tell Sora about Yen Sid's recent suspicions in regards to Kairi's being on Remnant, but for the boys, it had a much deeper effect. Sure, they knew that Sora was able to be a bit more like his old self around Ruby, but seeing how they both had lit up in excitement just from being around each other for a short time, really drove home the idea that Ruby was likely to be the key to bringing back the old Sora. More than that, they knew that telling Sora about what they just learned was very likely to undermine all of the progress that Ruby had made without even knowing it. Having realized all of that, the boys all found that they no longer had the heart to tell Sora the truth, so when they finally rejoined him, they did so with the best smiles they could muster in an attempt to hide their sorrow, and then thanked whatever higher power made it possible for Sora and the girls to not catch on to their distress.

After a few more exchanges with Mister McDuck, the group finally started making their way back to the stealth gummi ship so that the two Beacon teams could make their way back to Remnant, at which point they also decided to finally address the big matter that they had been wondering about for a little bit. "Why'd you and Naminé come here in the first place, Aqua," Ventus asked.

"Yeah, we thought you were supposed to be taking care of things in Radiant Garden," Roxas remembered.

"We were, but Ansem the Wise asked us to come here," Aqua revealed. "He said that he needed us to access his computer here in Twilight Town to put the finishing touches on his scanner. The only way he could do that was if someone were to open up the network link from the computer itself, but once he has all the necessary data, it'll be up and running in no time."

"Well, that's some welcome news. Just be sure to let us know if there's anything else we can do to help," Lea requested.

"And if you feel like we'll need to pitch as well, just say the word," Ruby added on before Sora could say anything to indicate that there may be a chance that they would not answer just any requests.

Aqua and Naminé looked a little hesitant on that note, and the boys were not much better off, so even before the Keyblade wielders said anything, Team RWBY all figured out what was coming. "What? You don't think we can pull our own weight on these kind of missions," Yang outright accused.

"No one said anything about that, Yang, but keep in mind; you just stumbled onto this mission by accident. Besides, we're already breaking a few rules by telling you even a little bit of everything that we did," Ventus started to say.

"So what? It's not like we're going to tell anyone about it," Blake pointed out.

"Well, maybe Jaune and the rest of Team JNPR, but they are our next door neighbors, and they're good friends of yours too, so it would only be fair," Ruby admitted with a shrug.

"Besides, who would even believe us? I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around it," Weiss added, though mostly in regards to Blake's argument for their being allowed to help.

Before any of his friends could say anything further against this, Sora decided to be his old, lovable self and said, "Okay, sure. You're in, but only if you promise to keep this whole thing a secret, at least from everyone other than Team JNPR."

"Huntress's honor," Ruby proudly promised with an easy salute, and from the look of things, the rest of her team were in full agreement as well.

Seeing no other way around this, they all just sighed in resignation, with Aqua commenting, "And there he goes again, getting others involved in what's supposed to be our fight alone."

"You get used to it after a while," Ventus shrugged, knowing better almost than anyone in this group about that.

"Oh, one last thing before you leave, boys," Naminé suddenly gasped before she reached into a small bag that was attached to the almost-unnoticeable belt she currently had wrapped around her waist. When she had grabbed the items she was looking for, she held her hand out to the members of Team SLVR, and allowed them to see four different colored devices that looked a lot like wrist watches. "Ansem, Chip, Dale, and Ienzo wanted you guys to have these."

"What are they," Lea asked as he hesitantly accepted the red and orange colored watch.

"Gummiwatches," Naminé answered as simply as possible. "They're basically like your Gummiphones, except for the fact that you wear them on your wrists. They can do everything that your Gummiphones can do, but only so long as you have the Gummiphones on you. Plus, it'll make a lot of things easier for you as well, since now, all you have to do if you encounter an enemy you don't recognize, is scan it with the Gummiwatch, and it'll look up the data right away. It may take a little extra time if there isn't any prerecorded information in its digital records, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem, given that we've likely seen every type of monster and bad guy under the sun at this point. You can even use it to make calls and there's a feature on there that should let you remote pilot the gummi ship as well."

"Wow, really," Sora exclaimed in excitement while he took a black and red Gummiwatch that matched the rest of his attire perfectly.

"Yep. You just need to sync it up to the gummi ship you want to control with it, and then either tap a command on the list or say what you want the ship to do into the watch," Naminé instructed. "Chip and Dale can give you guys the rest of the information on how to use these things later on, but that's the basic rundown of it."

"Cool," Ventus eagerly grinned as he admired the way his green and silver Gummiwatch looked on his wrist.

"Thanks Naminé," Roxas nodded as he did the same as Ven with his white and black Gummiwatch.

"Well, I guess this is it for now," Aqua sighed with a bit of sadness. She then proceeded to give each of the boys a loving hug as she said, "You all be careful out there, whether it's on Remnant or anywhere else you end up going, okay? Oh, and make sure you all study hard, too. And this time, please, make sure at least one of you calls me so that I can know how you're doing."

"Okay, okay, relax. We'll be fine, _Mom_," Ventus teasingly grinned, earning him a small jab to the forehead from his big sister figure even as she laughed with him.

Aqua then looked to the girls and said, "That being said, think you girls could do you me a huge favor and keep an eye on these four for me? They tend to get into a lot more trouble than anyone would be comfortable with."

"We'll do our best, ma'am," Ruby nodded in reply.

"Honestly, I get the feeling that trouble would find all of us no matter what," Yang shrugged. She then added on to her point by throwing a wink at Lea and saying, "After all, I'm sure that me and that one are going to set the town on fire on our upcoming date."

Lea had no shame in admitting that he did a small fist pump in victory after he heard that, prompting a few eye-rolls from most of the others, and after a few more exchanges of farewells from both parties, Teams RWBY and SLVR finally proceeded to board the stealth gummi ship once again, after it had dropped its cloak of course. No one wanted to stumble around finding the hatch or risk tripping over the foot of said doorway like Ruby had when the girls found the ship back on Remnant. Just before Ruby was about to enter the ship though, she heard Aqua calling out to her, and turned to face the Keyblade master once again, wondering what else there was to say.

Leaning to the side to make sure that Sora was not in ear-shot, Aqua then leaned closer to Ruby and whispered, "No matter what happens going forward, make sure you never stop being there for Sora, okay Ruby? He really needs someone like you right now."

It was hard for her to say whether Aqua was teasing her or not, but it did not matter in the end, because Ruby's face had lit up with a blush once again. One that she could only hide by resorting to her usual defense mechanism of pulling her hood over her head, even as she rushed into the ship while rapidly bidding one last goodbye to Aqua. After the hatch had closed behind Ruby, Aqua and Naminé were left to watch as the ship lifted off into the air and proceeded on its return trip to Remnant, and if they were being honest, after meeting Team RWBY, and seeing the effect that those girls had on their friends in one way or another, they both had a very good feeling about what may come in the near future.

* * *

**_AN: [comes into the room while panting and holding a hammer in one hand, muttering] Okay, that should hold for a little bit. [notices everyone looking at him] Oh! We done with the chapter already? Wow that was quick. [tosses hammer away to somewhere off-stage] Ahem, anyways, pretty long one, but we got a lot of stuff done in here today. Ruby's starting to confront and confirm her feelings for Sora, we got a little bit of world-hopping action, references and cameos, we battled against an upgraded Demon Tide, Team RWBY has not only learned about the truth along with an abridged version of the Kingdom Hearts history (at least in this continuity), but also got their first taste of sea-salt ice cream (as if we were going to have them go to Twilight Town and not get the frozen treat), and look at that, Aqua and Namine showed up, but with the downside of them delivering some bad news to most of the boys._**

**_Before anyone asks, yes, that was actually important for the plot later on in the story, but rest assured, this is not me killing off Kairi. I was originally planning on putting in a scene at the end of this chapter just to confirm that Kairi was around, but I eventually figured that it would be better to put it in at the end of the chapter where we conclude Volume 1 of RWBY, which should likely be the next chapter or the one after that. That and the fact that this chapter was already getting really long kinda made me drop the idea. I was also going to mention that Sora and the rest of SLVR would be taking RWBY to see Disney Castle/Town just to further prove the existence of other worlds, but that also got dropped too in favor of not making the chapter any longer than it needed to be._**

**_Moving right along, let's talk about Namine's Keyblade. Yes, it is a Keyblade that we first saw in Birth By Sleep, namely the one you could earn after clearing Enchanted Dominion, but honestly, after looking all the different Keyblade, I couldn't really think of one that would fit Namine better, and I wasn't really up for going with something completely original here, or some fanart thing. Anyone could've done both of those, but I wanted to go with a Keyblade that everyone would be able to recognize and easily remember this time around. As for Aqua's wrath on the boys, I know some of you are probably disappointed that it seems like it was quelled so easily, but don't worry, she's not quite done getting payback on them just yet. Just wait until she eventually finds her way to Remnant for a visit. After all, older siblings do tend to embarrass their younger siblings in front of their friends and love interests quite a bit, intentionally or otherwise._**

**_Oh yeah, and while I'm thinking about it, the Gummiwatches. Yes, those are basically smart watches, because hey, if they can get a smart phone in the form of Gummiphones, then why the heck not? Plus, it would make things a little easier for them to talk with their friends on other worlds without having to fish out the Gummiphone every time someone calls or struggling to try and hide it if someone were to walk in on them while they were in the midst of a conversation._**

**_Btw, I hope you all caught that little reference to RWBY future, namely how Weiss and Blake basically used their team combo move Checkmate before it was officially a thing, inspired in part by that scene when Team RWBY fought against Roman Torchwick and his mech suit. Did you catch it? Great. I thought you might. And if you didn't, I'm sure you've already gone back to look through the fight with the Demon Tide just to look again._**

**_Also, show of hands, who all saw the whole thing of RWBY figuring out the secret being Lea's fault? I'd say that it's justified how he was thrown under the gummi ship, as he put it in the story. But how about the initial reactions that the girls had to everything beforehand, and the confrontations that they had with the boys after they had all arrived at Twilight Town and started running into each other. Just to be clear, Weiss did not intentionally fall on top of Ven in that scene. She just fell after the ship was hit, and it provided them one of those special moments that all budding couples seem to go through at least once in their lives, be it in canon or just in some fan thing._**

**_Oh yeah, and the big scene where Blake and Yang were helping Ruby to realize her feelings for Sora. I just want to go ahead and say that so far, Ruby's only confirmed that she has a crush on Sora. She hasn't quite figured out whether or not it's at the point where it goes beyond that to the point of actually loving him, but we will see her get closer to that realization as the story goes on, guaranteed._**

**_And the cherry on top was getting to see all kinds of super powers from the Keyblade wielders, from Shotlocks to Command Styles, to Formchanges and more, they were pulling out all the stops this time around, and why shouldn't they have? They didn't need to maintain any kind of cover here, and even with RWBY around, it was obvious that the secret was out, so why act like it wasn't at that point? Am I right. Plus, I really hope the girls' reactions to seeing Sora's Ultimate Form is what you were all expecting it be, because that's just how I pictured it going. Of course, I was also planning on having Sora finish off the Demon Tide with an Attraction Flow, probably Blaster Blaze or Mad Tea Cups, and actually getting Ruby and one or all of the other girls to join in on that fun, but the fight was starting to drag on at that point, and I felt that having Aqua and Namine come in to deliver what was basically the final blow at the end was satisfying enough as it was._**

**_Well, that's everything I wanted to cover. Next time it's back to the RWBY story line, and I'm sure we know which bit of Volume 1 is going to come next, so I doubt I really need to bother with the next thing we would normally do here...Oh, what the heck, I'll say it anyway. Onto the Preview!..._**

**_With most of the Keyblade wielders' secrets now out in the open, things certainly seem like they're starting to look up for everyone at Beacon, and it looks like the timing could not be better. The day of the Vytal Festival is fast approaching, and everyone in Vale is getting excited just from seeing how the townsfolk in Vale are already setting up decorations while welcoming some of the first of the students visiting from other huntsmen academies. Those aren't the only visitors that Vale's about to have though, as a special girl in Roxas's life is also coming to visit too. The only downside is that there seems to be a bit of tension in the air that causes quite the divide for the black and white members of Team RWBY, and Team SLVR may end up finding themselves caught in the middle. Just what are our heroes getting mixed up in now? Find out just how black and white some things really are next time._**

**_[walls suddenly gets blown in along with the remains of a closest door followed swiftly by a large amount of fire]_**

**_Yang: [angrily stomps in with the remains of rope hanging off her arms, while a loosened gag hangs down from her neck] Did you think that you could stop me by tying me up and locking me in a closet?!_**

**_AN: Uh-oh! Reinforcement failed! Uh, gotta go guys! See ya later, and as always..._**

**_Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy._**

**_[AN runs away screaming with Yang hot on his tail]_**

**_Ruby: [sighs] Not again. You'd think she would have cooled down by now, or at least reigned it in to the point where she can properly remember that we need him able to write so that this story can continue. [starts rushing off after them both so she can stop her sister from killing the author]_**


	8. Black, White, and Strays

_**Today's chapter is brought to you in part by Anonymaton's Anti-Deadpool Mech (Christmas Edition)!**_

_**[camera pans to show a multi-leveled stage with flashing lights and a faceless announcer that one can assume is Anonymaton (will be idenifitied as Ad Host for simplicity sake), similar to a car commercial stage]**_

_**Ad Host: Are you tired of unwanted anti-heroes in red spandex invading your studio? Do you want to dispense justice upon those breakers of both brick and fourth walls with style?**_

_**Sora: We're all listening.**_

_**Ad Host: If so, look no further, because the anti-Deadpool battle mech is for you; now in Christmas edition! [mech in question appears on the stage with Nora at the controls, much to everyone's concern] Not to worry, we're not going to any extremes here today. She's just piloting for demonstration purposes, just like our volunteer target dummy!**_

_**Xehanort: [tied to a large bullseye] I DID NOT VOLUNTEER FOR THIS!**_

_**Ad Host: Hush! Ahem, Standing at 15 feet tall and sporting numerous gadgets, gizmos, and hurty things, this wonder of engineering is sure to make the merc with a mouth think twice before getting up to any shenanigans in your house! Featuring a heavy caliber, rapid fire candy cane cannon [Nora fires said canon at Xehanort, who squeals like a girl as the candy canes hit his arms legs and barely hit his weak point] freeze ray [Nora fires freeze ray, turning Xehanort into a popsicle] titanium streamer restraints [Like you need to ask what happens now? Nora fires, Xehanort gets tied up by colorful streamers] and state of the art sound system, so you can put the hurt on the regenerating degenerate while listening to your favorite holiday tunes!**_

_**Nora: [hits the control for the sound system while a random X-mas song begins playing that she hums along to while continuing to fire various weapons at Xehanort, drowning out his screams of pain]**_

_**Ad Host: It's the anti-Deadpool battle mech, and it could be all yours today, with a quick message. (Warning: the anti-Deadpool mech suit is not an actual thing, but something of fiction that should only be used in humorous author's notes of fanfictions, and while its uses are applicable on other characters, it's main focus is Deadpool, and it should only be used on Deadpool lest you wish to cause very grievous harm to other characters. Only use anti-Deadpool battle mech on other characters when inside a studio that makes everything like a Looney Tunes cartoon like the Studio of lyokoMARVELanime) Send those messages in today, for your own anti-Deadpool battle mech suit.**_

_**[audience applause, and camera pans over to author who's already seated as his desk and clapping for the advertisement]**_

_**AN: Nicely done, very nicely done. I know what I'm putting on my X-mas wish list. [chuckles deviously] Ahem, anyways, "Anonymaton" had asked me via private message if I would do an ad for that in today's beginning or ending author's note, and well, I just couldn't refuse. I mean, who wouldn't want something to secure their studio against Dumbfool? But with that said, I think it's time we dispense with the funny stuff and get down to business, because it's time for another chapter in Remnant of the Key!**_

_**[audience applause]**_

_**Alright, alright, I know you're all excited, but just hold onto that for a few more seconds while I run a few quick review answers.**_

_**First off, as a general response answer, a lot of people seem to be really interested in finding out what will happen if Aqua and Winter ever meet. I must admit, I had not really thought that particular meeting would be all that funny or really significant, but given all the interest, I'm thinking that I might need to try and find some way to make it a little more exciting. Either that or start up my own little RWBY Chibi story that would do that and so many other things for this series. I mean, it does seem like everyone that's written a RWBY crossover has done a Chibi version to go with it, so why not at least consider it?**_

_**Sora: Maybe because you said that you weren't going to start any more new stories for a while?**_

_**AN: This would be completely different. I mean, come on! Is it really that much of a new story if it's technically a comedy spin-off?**_

_**Moving along, "CT7567Rules", can you really see Weiss doing something that would prompt me to lock her in a closet like I did with Cagalli, Shinn, and Yang? Get real. If anything, I'm pretty sure Blake would be the one that would force me to take such an extreme measure.**_

_**Ruby: Speaking of which, where's Yang?**_

_**AN: Oh, she may be locked in an underground bomb shelter I had installed in the basement of the studio, and I may have implied that if she tries to blast her way out of it, she could bring down the whole building on top of her and everyone else inside.**_

_**Weiss: Like that will hold her.**_

_**AN: Wanna bet? [hits control and a security camera feed is then brought up to show Yang inside said bomb shelter, still looking really mad] Oh, oh, oh! Here's come the good part. [Yang is then seen activating her Semblance, triggering an alarm before several hoses fire a large amount of fire suppressant at her until the flames on her hair dies out] AH-HAHAHAHAHAHA! AND SHE JUST KEEPS DOING IT TOO!**_

_**Lea: Should we be worried about how long she'll be down there?**_

_**AN: Nah, that suppressant is the same kind that Edna Mode used for Jack-Jack's new suit in The Incredibles 2, meaning its completely edible. I'm sure she'll be fine.**_

_**Moving on, "Dragon Rider 66", from what I've seen, Roxas and Namine's relationship is pretty interchangeable between romantic and sibling, as I've seen writers doing both with those two. I've mentioned before that I really don't have too much of a preference when it comes to who Roxas is paired with between Namine and Xion, so it's only natural that I would change who between those two he's paired with depending on the story/series that they are in. This would be an instance where he's paired with Xion as opposed to Namine, and trust me, no one's going to mention the whole Namine could be his sister thing in the Keyblades Unleashed Series. That would make things way too awkward on so many levels.**_

_**"Anonymaton", we're not at the point of psycho-Sora just yet, but there will be no need for any mallets to be used, especially not by Nora. That would not be playing it safe; that would be overkill.**_

_**Ruby: The use of the mallet, or having Nora be the one to use it?**_

_**AN: Is that a rhetorical question? Any ways, "Monkey D. Conan", to answer your question about Cinder's power level, considering that Maidens seem to be like Remnant's own personal version of the Princess of Heart in a way (at least that's the impression I've gotten from time to time), I'd say that Cinder would probably be considered at Maleficent's power level at least. Speaking of Maleficent, there's actually no plans for her at this time. I mean, she's not exactly taking much of an active role in the greater Kingdom Hearts universe at the moment, and it does not seem like she will be again any time soon.**_

_**Aside from that, everything else is stuff that will be answered in today's chapter, or would just be giving away huge spoilers, so sorry if you don't see your name on today's review answers. Besides, we've already wasted plenty of time here as it is. We gotta get this chapter rolling, so let's get it on, everybody!**_

_**I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story.**_

* * *

**Chapter 8: Black, White, and Strays**

Despite their best efforts, the boys and their friends from Beacon had not flown straight back to Remnant. Even after everything that they had said, Team RWBY still wanted some additional proof on the existence of other worlds, or more accurately, Weiss and Blake wanted some more proof, Ruby just wanted to see another world, and Yang was willing to go along with the ride no matter what route they chose. Then again, it was not like the Keybearers could blame them; aside from the fact that it was in a near-constant state of twilight and how there were no Faunus, Twilight Town was really not that much different from Remnant. Even meeting both Scrooge McDuck and Little Chef did little to reinforce the idea, so it made sense that the girls would want to see some place that would really prove they were on another world from Remnant, and despite their hesitance, Sora and the others just could not find it in themselves to say no when Ruby gave them a sad-puppy-face to convince them into showing them another world. Luckily, they knew just the place to prove that fact while simultaneously satisfying Ruby's curiosity, and so, their straight flight back to Remnant took a small detour to the home of Sora's most constant traveling companions: Disney Town.

Upon arriving at the castle that King Mickey called home and ruled his world from, the group was quickly greeted by Chip and Dale, leaving Weiss and Blake startled at the sight of actual, talking chipmunks while Ruby and Yang just cooed over how cute they were. If it were not for a quick intervention on Sora and Lea's part, the sisters probably would have even suffocated the poor gummi engineers in tight hugs, but there was no denying that Chip and Dale were both very flattered by their praise all the same. The rest of their visit was almost just as interesting, as the boys gave Team RWBY an easy tour around Disney Castle before moving into the town so that they could see it's cartoon-like nature, and the fact that everyone on this world was actually a cartoonish, anthropomorphic animal, including the rulers of said world.

Meeting Queen Minnie had the added bonus of giving Sora a sense of déjà vu when Weiss had scolded both him and Ruby for not being more respectful towards royalty, even though the rest of Team SLVR and Yang were being just as casual when they greeted her as they were. Luckily, Minnie was able to reassure Weiss that there was no need to worry about formalities with her or anyone else in the palace, since they were all friends of Sora's and/or King Mickey's, but it still did very little to keep Weiss from maintaining her cordial approach when addressing the queen. Another interesting thing that Roxas noticed after they had introduced the girls to Minnie was that Blake seemed to be struggling with herself for some reason, like she was trying to suppress some kind of natural instinct or something, but it seemed to pass pretty quickly when a few more of the Keybearers' friends finally came home to see that they had company.

The minute he saw Sora and realized that he had brought outsiders to their world with him, Donald instantly went postal on the spiky haired teen, even going so far as to bash him in the head with his staff almost as much as he had when Sora had turned into a Heartless while ranting and raving about the world order. It was an entertaining sight for most of the group, namely the members that knew about the friendship between Sora and the royal magician, but it did not keep Ruby from worrying that Donald might end up really hurting Sora after a while. Luckily, Goofy was able to help calm down his friend, and after a brief explanation, it seemed like Donald was willing to accept the fact that Team RWBY now knew all about these things. Of course, they did refrain from mentioning to everyone that they were likely going to tell Team JNPR about it as well, thinking that would set Donald off again, this time on all four boys, but they did at least tell Mickey, and he seemed to be fine with it, given that he practically encouraged them to do so.

Speaking of the king, Ruby and her friends all had to agree that meeting Mickey was probably one of the best things about traveling to Disney Town. When Sora and the others first told them about the mouse king, they all figured that he was probably this super huge, overly serious warrior that did not take any nonsense, but that image was quickly shattered when he entered the room. At least in the case of the super huge part. Afterwards, they quickly realized that while Mickey was very serious about his duties as a king, as a Keyblade wielder, and in keeping the worlds safe, he was also very friendly and playful in his own way. He was certainly not anything like what any of the girls would normally expect a king to be, and they found that to be both a relief and very refreshing. In fact, by the time they left, they honestly came to think that Mickey was a lot like Sora in many ways. When they expressed this fact to Mickey and Sora, the latter modestly protested the idea, while the former just gave them his signature laugh and agreed, citing that as a big reason why he and his pals all got along with Sora so well.

As great as their visit to Disney Town was, they did still have to get back to Remnant soon, especially since they had class the very next day. Seeing how sad Ruby was to have the fun cut short though, prompted Sora to promise that he would take them to see some other worlds sometime in the near future, and that easily raised her spirits quite a bit, especially after he made that same promise to the rest of her team on the flight back to Remnant. It may not be entirely okay for him to do that, but then again, this is Sora we are talking about. He was never really one for keeping up the world order when among friends that knew about the secrets that it tried to hide.

It turned out to be very late when they finally returned to Remnant, right to the point where everyone insisted on using the stealth gummi ship's teleporter to get back to the dorms instead of walking all the way back like they had that morning, and Sora found he could not disagree with them. Despite the fact that the girls all found the idea of teleporting from the ship and into the room to be really cool, they could not help but change that tune after they had done so, and came out on the other side feeling rather nauseous. Sora reassured them that it does get better with time, but the girls merely said that they would take his word for it before slowly trudging from Team SLVR's room and into theirs.

The very next morning, the boys were called up to Professor Ozpin's office to report on the events that had taken place yesterday, and naturally they were all worried about how the headmaster would react to hearing that some of his students had not only found them out, but were actually pulled into a vicious battle against the Heartless as a result. Still, it was not like they could come up with any other excuse, given that there had been absolutely no sign of Team RWBY since they had left for Twilight Town, so they ended up telling him the whole truth. When they finally finished the tale, they were sure that Ozpin would be furious, but instead, he merely smiled and admitted that he had a hunch that Team RWBY would be among the few, if not the first to discover their secret, and merely asked that they do their best to not let any more mishaps like this happen again.

The rest of the following week consisted of the two teams telling Team JNPR about Team SLVR's secret, which then led to Nora joining Ruby and Yang in asking various different, often bizarre questions about them and their world travels. Questions that often ranged from what kind of things they could do that no one else on Remnant should be able to do, with or without a Semblance, to whether or not they could shape-shift, and even to the question of whether or not they were using their real appearances at that moment. It was actually entertaining in its own way, but after nearly a full week of getting those questions nonstop, sometimes even when they were trying to pay attention in class, you could understand why the boys were starting to get a little annoyed. Mostly with Nora though; Ruby and Yang had gotten all of their questions answered before they had even reached the halfway point of the week.

So, no one was surprised that when classes ended on Friday, Team SLVR had disappeared almost completely, most likely in a collective attempt to hide from Nora before she could ask anymore crazy questions. Team RWBY probably would have gone to look for the boys and help them in this attempt, but they had all taken off so fast that you would think that they had all gained a speed Semblance that made them faster than Ruby. Either that or they had used the stealth gummi ship's teleporter to make a quick escape. Besides that, the girls actually did have some other plans in mind for their afternoon, and those plans brought them right into Vale as the city began to take on a much more festive appearance and atmosphere, all for one very special reason that was getting everyone excited.

"The Vytal Festival! Oh this is absolutely wonderful," Weiss of all people cheered with a smile that was almost comparable to that of a child's on Christmas.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss," Ruby noted for everyone. She was not wrong, either. Ever since she heard that Vale was starting to set up all of its decorations and preparations for the Vytal Festival, Weiss had been smiling almost nonstop for the entire day, and that smile had only become more constant after they had arrived in the city proper a few minutes ago. Even though she was happy to see her partner so happy and excited, Ruby still had to admit, "It's kinda weirding me out…"

"How could you not smile," Weiss happily asked in return. "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances, parades, a tournament!" The more Weiss spoke, the more the girls came to understand why she was so excited, mainly because they were all just as excited for the same things. Or so it seemed, until Weiss added one last thing to her list of reasons to be excited. "Oh the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breath taking."

That last one pulled a sigh out from Yang, along with the only comment that came to her mind in that moment. "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

"Quiet you," Weiss snapped in annoyance. It was not her fault that the things she found fun and interesting was different from most other people's. Well…not entirely any way.

Blake merely smirked at Yang's successful burn on the white-themed girl, until an odd sound suddenly reached her ears and made her stop in her tracks. "Do you guys hear that," she asked.

Ruby was about to say no until she too picked up on the sound, and raised a hand to her ear so that she could better listen. Seeing their leader straining to hear whatever it was Blake had picked up on made Yang and Weiss do the same, right up to the moment when the sound started to become clearer to all of them and probably everyone else around them too. The sound in question definitely sounded like someone talking, but the speaker was saying everything at such a fast pace, that it was amazing that anyone could pick up on the actual words at all. In fact, the girls were all sure that the only reason that they had managed was because they had once seen how Nora was when she was on a sugar high, a dark memory that still made them shudder at the mere thought of it.

"Gotta-hurry-gotta-find-one-gotta-find-one-gotta-find-one! She's-gonna-be-here-any-minute-and-I-still-haven't-found-one! Hi-girls! Sorry-can't-talk-now! Really-busy! Catch-up-later! Bye," the person rapidly declared as he came and past them as a near blur, nearly blowing them all over with the strength of the wind that followed in his wake as he ran past them.

All four girls just looked between where the guy had come from and where he disappeared to in confusion over the bizarre thing that had just happened, until Blake finally asked, "Was that…?"

"Roxas! Seriously! Wait up," someone called out, answering Blake's question before she could finish asking it. When the girls turned to this new speaker, they were left a little startled by the sight of Ventus, Lea, and Sora all panting heavily as they ran to catch up with the fourth member of their group. "Geez! I had…no idea…he could move…this fast," Ventus panted, making the girls wonder how he had managed to shout after Roxas like he had just now if he was so tired.

"Sora, did you…happen to teach Roxas…how to use Flowmotion…when we weren't paying attention," Lea questioned as he ended up coming to a stop by a guard rail that separated the main street from the stairs down to the docks and waterfront, and used said rail to support his weight as he caught his breath.

"No, I didn't," Sora replied as he too struggled to breathe. "This is all…all Roxas. I'm not even sure if…he's using any…special powers…or if he's really just…just that excited."

"Yeah, I'm not sure which is the scarier answer to that," Lea groaned in misery. At that point, he finally noticed who else was with them, and immediately straightened up so that he could shoot a sly smile in the direction of Team RWBY's blonde powerhouse. "Hey hot-stuff," Lea greeted before turning to some of her teammates and dropping his smirk into just a friendly smile. "Ladies." When his gaze landed on Weiss, his smile vanished completely in favor of a very blank expression. "Ice Princess."

"Hey handsome," Yang greeted just as flirtingly in return.

"Hi guys," Ruby waved while Blake just nodded, though the latter did let out her cat-like smirk when she noticed how much of Ruby's attention was on Sora when she greeted them.

"Flame-Brain," Weiss returned just as flatly as Lea had. Since Lea had not stopped calling her that, practically refusing to use her real name most of the time, Weiss could not help but start using her own insulting nickname when speaking with him. Just because the two were now on better terms than before, does not mean they had suddenly become the best of friends.

"What are you guys doing here," Blake asked on their behalf.

"You mean besides hiding from Nora and her crazy questions," Ventus clarified.

"Seriously, you tell the girl that you had to change your appearance to the point of being something else entirely on a couple of worlds, and all of a sudden, the crazy train doesn't just leave the station; it attaches a rocket engine and blasts-off from it," Sora grumbled crossly.

"It can't be that bad," Yang tried to dispute.

"The last time we saw her, she asked if any of us ever had to change into girls because a world was only populated by warrior women that would kill any man they see on sight without a second thought," Lea informed Yang with a flat tone, only to drop it as he and the other two Keyblade wielders shivered at the memory.

"Okay, yeah, that's pretty weird," Yang agreed like clockwork, with Ruby, Weiss, and Blake all nodding in agreement.

"Still doesn't answer the question of what you're all doing here besides that though," Ruby pointed out.

"Mainly, trying to keep up with Roxas as he doubles his efforts to find one place in the kingdom that sells sea-salt ice cream," Sora finally revealed.

"I'm pretty sure that they don't make that anywhere on Remnant," Ruby guessed. She certainly had not ever heard of the flavor until going to Twilight Town last week.

"That's what we've been saying! But he keeps insisting that there's got to be at least one shop that does, and he's determined to find one today more than ever," Ventus replied.

"Really? How come," Yang asked.

Just before any of the three could answer, Roxas suddenly reappeared alongside their groups and answered for them so loudly you would think he had turned into an overly excited Ruby. "XION'S COMING TO VISIT," the blonde cheered while running around them in a manner that was almost like a ball in a pinball machine. He did not even stop until Lea finally reached out with one arm and grabbed onto him, and not by his arm or jacket. "Ow, ow, ow! My hair! My hair! That is my hair! That's my hair you're pulling on!"

"Calm down, bro! I get that you're excited to see your girlfriend, but at least try to remember how to breathe, or at least how to maintain normal human levels of movement," Lea joked as he pulled Roxas to a firm stop and then released his hold on the dual Keybearer's blonde locks.

"Wait, did he say Xion," Ruby asked. "As in his girlfriend that we keep hearing about in a lot of your stories?"

"Yep, the one and only," Lea proudly declared. "We just got a call from her this morning on his Gummiphone so she could tell us the good news. Mostly Roxas, but the fact that she is coming to visit is still a big deal. I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up sticking around for a while too."

"Oh my gosh, that's so cool! I can't wait to meet her," Yang cheered, now feeling really excited at the chance to meet another one of the boys' fellow Keyblade wielders.

"Me neither," Ruby agreed, and it seemed like Weiss and Blake felt the same way, given that they were smiling almost as much as the other two, with a hint of excitement dancing in their eyes. "Say, what's Xion like, anyway? I mean, you've told us a few different stories about her, but never anything about what she's like as a person."

"She's absolutely wonderful," Roxas sighed fondly.

"Yeah, I don't think you're going to get much more from lover-boy over here, at least not without it sounding all poetic and like something that could be used as song lyrics," Lea informed the group. He then decided he should take up the reins for that conversation and said, "I guess the easiest way to put it is…well, you know how Ventus, Aqua, and their buddy Terra are like a trifecta of friends or something like that?" Upon getting nods from Team RWBY in response, Lea went on to say, "Well, Xion's basically the third member of mine and Roxas's trio of friends. She's like the Aqua of our group, if Aqua was a lot younger, both physically and technically, really shy, and more into Ventus instead of Terra."

That last comment got Roxas to snap out of his love-struck daze and into a bit of a glare that was directed at his best friend, while Ventus just stared at Lea for a minute before turning to his physical twin. "Roxas, I'm not entirely sure, but I think we've just been insulted," Ventus commented.

"I'm pretty sure, although I feel like it was us, Aqua, and Xion that were insulted," Roxas replied.

Everyone got a bit of a laugh out of that last exchange, before Sora finally calmed down enough to give a better description of Xion to the girls. "In all honesty, Xion is the third pea to their pod, but as a person, she's a lot like…" Sora started to say while thinking of ways that he could most easily describe the girl that looked so much like a black haired Kairi, until his eyes finally rested on one particular member of Team RWBY. "Like Blake, only not as quiet, and smiles a bit more. Okay, a lot more."

"Hey! I smile plenty of times," Blake protested, earning a bit more laughter from the others that even she had to join in on eventually.

Once their laughter died down again, Roxas was prepared to take off and find a place that sold sea-salt ice cream, when another thought occurred to him. "Say, what're you four doing down here," he asked.

"Weiss brought us, but she hasn't explained why we're spending our Friday afternoon at the stupid docks," Yang answered.

"Ugh, they smell like fish," Ruby groaned while pinching her nose.

"Yeah. Kinda reminds me a little of home and the Caribbean," Sora sighed fondly as he took in his own whiff of the air. When the others looked at him a little weirdly, he only shrugged and said, "Hey, islander. I've spent most of my life by the sea. What can I say?"

"That aside, there is a very important reason as to why we should all be here right now," Weiss announced, getting everyone's attention. "I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today, and as a representative of Beacon I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."

"Wow. That's so big of you, and yet, it all sounds so…fake," Lea sarcastically praised, only dropping the sarcasm at the end. "What's the real reason?"

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament," Blake suggested, though from the tone of her voice, it sounded more like she was stating a fact than she was making a suggestion.

"Yeah, that makes way more sense," Lea agreed with a nod.

"Ah! You can't prove that," Weiss instantly protested, but she only made the two smirk a little more since they felt that her reaction was proof enough.

Sensing that a fight might break out if this kept up, be it playful or otherwise, Sora was about to intervene when a startled gasp from Ruby caught everyone's attention. Turning to see what had caught Ruby's notice like that, everyone immediately saw a store that had been roped off with crime-scene tape and had been left very damaged. Upon moving closer, they started to get a better scope of how messed up the shop had become. There was glass from broken windows on the sidewalk and street in front of the store and inside, they could see several overturned shelves and the broken down front door lying across one of the counters. From the look of things, it seemed pretty recent, and that was only further supported by the fact that there was a pair of officers taking notes of everything on the scene.

"What happened here," Ruby asked once they had all gotten as close as they could without going past the crime-scene tape.

"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week," the bearded detective replied while pocketing his notepad. He then turned to walk over to his partner while grumbling, "This place is turning into a jungle."

"That's terrible," Yang sighed sadly.

"Was anyone hurt," Ventus asked.

"Thankfully, no," the other detective, a younger fellow by the sound of his voice answered. "The owners were out when it happened, and didn't learn about it until they arrived this morning to open up."

"Well, that's good to hear, at least," Sora muttered.

While she did agree with Sora's sentiments, Ruby still could not help but take notice of what the detectives were saying to each other about what they had found. Especially after she heard the younger one say to his partner, because it sounded a little familiar to her. "They left all the money again."

"Yeah, it just doesn't make a lick o' sense. Who needs that much dust," the bearded detective wondered.

"I dunno, an army," the younger one suggested.

"You thinking the uh, White Fang?"

"Ya I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

That last bit prompted an eye-roll from all four Keyblade wielders, while Lea just commented, "Ladies and gentlemen, Vale's tax dollars at work. What shining examples of security against crime."

Another eye-roll followed the overabundance of sarcasm, but the others soon became a little more interested in what Weiss had to say following the exchange between the two detectives. "Hmph. The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates," the heiress huffed crossly.

"What's _your_ problem," Blake questioned, surprising some of the others with how annoyed she suddenly sounded.

Weiss did not seem to take notice, and simply answered the question. "My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus," Blake immediately defended.

"Misguided? They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet," Weiss retorted.

"So then they're _very_ misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale," Blake shot back.

"Not to sound like I disagree with you or anything, Blake, but what if they needed to load up on ammunition for some type of big operation or something, and didn't want to do it the legal way," Lea questioned. When the girl shot him a cross look in return, Lea raised his hands in defense as he said, "Hey, I'm just saying! From what I've heard, those guys went from peaceful protest group to basically a Faunus version of the old Organization XIII, minus most of the sneaking around. You can't blame me for trying to see things from multiple angles."

"Oh please. The White Fang has never been peaceful," Weiss scoffed.

"Really? Because from what I've heard, they were at one point, before they had a change in leadership. I'm not saying I blame them for taking a more heavy-handed approach in response to how most people treat Faunus in general, but if you ask me, I think they were better off before that had happened," Roxas countered, surprising Blake a little when he admitted that.

"Hmm. I think Blake might have a point, actually," Ruby thought aloud. "Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago. Maybe it was him."

"Torchwick? You mean that mobster on the news with the ridiculous haircut and the stupid hat," Sora asked for clarification. Upon getting a nod of confirmation, he went on to ask Ruby, "You actually met him once?"

"She didn't just meet him; she _fought_ him, and the goons he had hired to rob the Dust store she was visiting at the time, singlehanded," Yang boasted on Ruby's behalf.

"You're kidding," all four boys exclaimed in awe.

"How do you think she got Ozpin's attention, and to the point where he was willing to let her come to Beacon two years early," Yang questioned.

Ruby could only blush at the praise her sister was giving her, and the redness of her face only increased when Sora said, "Wow! That's so awesome, Ruby!"

"Maybe, but that still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum," Weiss huffed rather haughtily, prompting Blake to start glaring at her, and that glare only grew stronger as the heiress continued speaking. "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."

"Okay, Ice Princess, we get it," Lea said rather harshly, and his lack of any playful tones made it clear that Weiss should watch herself if she knew what was good for her.

"Besides, that's not necessarily true," Yang started to say in her own attempt at playing peacemaker.

Yang's attempt at calming everyone down was quickly cut short when someone from the docks suddenly shouted, "Hey! Stop that Faunus!"

Hearing that prompted the two teams to rush back over to the guard rail by the docks, ready to spring into action, only to pause when they saw a blonde haired boy leap up onto the rail of a ship's deck, and wave to the sailors on board with a chuckle. A minute later, the boy had jumped off the ship, and onto the dock, before he leapt up to hang down from a lamppost by his monkey tail, proving that he was the Faunus that someone had been shouting about a minute ago even before the sailors on the ship had shouted after him. "You no-good stowaway!"

"Hey! A 'no-good' stowaway would have been caught. I'm a _great_ stowaway," the monkey-boy corrected as he peeled open a banana that he pulled from somewhere, before he leaned to one side in order to dodge a rock that had been thrown at him by one of the detectives from earlier.

"Hey. Get down from there this instant," the bearded detective ordered, only to end up getting a banana peel dropped in his face.

The monkey-boy then swung himself up on top of the lamppost he was hanging from, laughing all the while before he leapt over the cops in an impressive show of acrobatics and raced up the dock stairs leading to the street. Naturally the officers chased after him, but he did not seem to be paying them any mind, or at least not anymore mind than needed in order to know he had to keep running, and his escape attempt ended up leading him right past where Teams SLVR and RWBY were all standing. When he came up to the two teams, he actually did slow his pace a little bit, but only just enough to the point where he could throw a quick wink at Blake, much to her astonishment, and afterwards, he was off at full speed once again.

After watching the police continue to chase after the stowaway, Lea eventually had to ask, "Did we just see an actual, honest-to-god monkey-boy?"

"Yep," Roxas confirmed while popping the "p" at the end. He then gained a small smirk as he joked, "Think that might've been Sora's long-lost cousin?"

"Hey!" Sora snapped in retort, not appreciating the joke at all.

"Well Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes," Yang said to her friend, amusedly.

Weiss on the other hand was not willing to let the guy out of their sights just yet. "Quick! We have to observe him!"

"Right, because I'm sure having even more people chase after him will be a great way to convince him to stop running away," Lea remarked as everyone other than Blake took off after the monkey Faunus and his pursuers.

When he noticed Blake just standing there staring at where the monkey-boy had been just now, Roxas immediately shouted, "Blake, come on! If Weiss is going to end up landing everyone in trouble, we should at least be there to see her crash and burn…And help get them out of it, of course."

Blake did not say anything in response, but did snap out of her stupor to follow after the others. The two teams quickly rounded the corner that they saw the officers and their quarry disappear behind, and easily spotted both racing down the adjacent street without any trouble. At once, the eight friends all bolted after the three, doing their best to catch up, until they rounded a corner leading to a side street. Not even slowing down for a second, Weiss made the turn as well, but ended up running into something and falling to the ground with whatever it was she ran into, prompting the rest to skid to a halt right behind her.

Propping herself up on her arms, Weiss's eyes instantly widen when the Faunus boy suddenly disappears up onto a rooftop and out of the police's reach, and cried out, "No, he got away!"

"Ahem! Do you mind," a new voice then asked, sounding very irritated, while the rest of Team RWBY started to look at Weiss a little nervously, and Team SLVR all froze upon hearing the newcomer speak.

Looking down at the person who had spoken, Weiss saw that the thing she had ran into was actually a pair of girls, one with orange hair that had a pink bow tied into it, and the other black, and while the former was smiling widely despite her sudden fall, the latter was most definitely upset, given the glare she was throwing at Weiss. Seeing both girls and the glare that the black haired one was giving her, Weiss immediately leapt back up with a yelp, but that only seemed to irritate the black haired girl a little more. "Oh don't worry, I'm fine. Thanks for the concern," the girl grumbled.

"Uh…Sorry, I didn't see you," Weiss apologized.

"Yeah, well you probably would have if you had thought to slow down before making that turn," the girl retorted as she picked herself up while dusting off her skirt.

Feeling rather cowed by that retort, Weiss could not help but find this situation familiar, and could not help but lean over to her partner and whisper, "Is this what it was like when you first met me?"

"Uh…More or less," Ruby admitted with a shrug, not wanting to admit that this girl did not seem as mean as Weiss did back then, considering she had not raised her voice to yelling levels just yet.

What none of the members of Team RWBY had realized yet was that the boys were all sporting wide grins upon seeing this particular girl, one of them more so than the rest. "Xion, you're here," Roxas cheered as he pushed past Weiss to approach his girlfriend.

The black haired girl's cross look immediately transformed into an ear-splitting grin as Roxas scooped her up in a tight hug and spun her around, much to her laughing amusement. "It's great to see you too, Roxas," Xion laughed as her boyfriend set her down on her feet again, giving her a chance to give him a quick peck on the cheek before she set her sights on the rest of the guys. "Axel, Ven, Sora! Long time no see!"

"I'll say, Short-Stuff," Lea grinned in return as he pulled both of his best friends into a big group hug.

"Hey Xion," Ventus waved in greeting.

"Hi-ya," Sora smiled as well.

While the boys continued their reunion with Xion, Team RWBY took the time to take in the girl's appearance. While she was cross at first, seeing her smile again definitely gave her the appearance of someone who was really friendly amongst people she knew. Add that in with the way her blue eyes seemed to shine after she first saw Roxas and it was clear to the huntresses-in-training that she really did care a great deal for the blonde boy. Not to mention that her short, somewhat messy yet still straight black hair that parted to the right with some tucked behind her right ear gave her a certain level of cuteness that was hard to really resist. In terms of her outfit, Xion's attire consisted of a sleeveless double buttoned, collared shirt and a black belt, along with a short white skirt underneath said shirt, and black boots that reached halfway up to her knees with a beige color on the upper fifth, reminding the girls a little of Naminé's outfit. The only thing about Xion's outfit that did not seem too similar to Naminé's was the fact that she wore a silver and grey Gummiwatch on her wrist like the rest of the guys. All-in-all, Xion was not quite what the girls were expecting, but still pretty close to it at the same time.

The reunion between the five Keybearers was cut short, when Sora noticed the other girl still lying on the ground, not appearing the least bit bothered by the fact that she had been nearly forgotten in their excitement. Coming to a quick conclusion, Sora looked back to Xion and asked, "Say, who's your friend, Xion?"

"Friend," Xion asked, confused by what Sora was referring to, until she turned back to look at the girl that was still on the ground. "Oh my gosh!"

"Sal-u-tations," the girl happily waved to everyone before Xion could apologize for forgetting about her.

"Um…hello," Ruby hesitantly greeted, just as put-off by the girl as the Keybearers.

"Are you…okay," Yang asked.

"I'm wonderful. Thank you for asking," the girl replied, still just laying on the ground, much to everyone's confusion.

After a quick exchange of unsure looks between one another, Ventus asked, "Do you…need some help getting up?"

"Oh, no, that won't be necessary," the girl replied, and she finally jumped back to her feet, startling everyone into taking a quick step back when she did. "My name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hi Penny, and hi Xion," Ruby greeted, making sure to add the latter in since she had not done so yet. "I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head," Yang asked Penny before Blake elbowed her in the side. "Oh! I'm Yang."

"And who are you four," Penny then asked the boys, apparently having deduced who Xion was by now.

"My name's Sora."

"I'm Ventus, but you can just call me Ven."

"Roxas."

"The name's Lea. Got it memorized?"

"Yes I do," Penny confirmed enthusiastically. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Um…You already said that," Roxas frowned in reminder.

Penny just blinked for a moment before her smile was back again and she said, "So I did!"

"Well, sorry for running into you," Weiss apologized as she and the others turned to leave.

"Take care, friend," Ruby added as she waved goodbye for now.

"We'll see you around, buddy," Sora said as he copied Ruby, neither of them noticing how Penny's eyes widened upon hearing their words.

Once they were a fair enough distance away, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief before Yang said, "She was…weird."

"I'd say quirky would be a bit more accurate," Xion corrected as she turned her attention to the huntresses-in-training. "So, judging by the names, I'm guessing you're the infamous Team RWBY that I've heard about."

"Yeah, that's us," Ruby proudly confirmed. Her smile faded a little though when she asked, "Wait, you've heard about us?"

"Mostly from Roxas whenever he called to update me on how things are going for him and the rest of these knuckleheads," Xion explained, getting in a bit of teasing while she was at it. "Of course, I also heard a few things from Naminé and Aqua, too after you all hitched a ride on their gummi ship about a week ago. Sounds like you really left quite an impression on them."

"Well, what can we say? We're just so awesome that we're pretty much out of this world," Yang joked.

While Lea grinned a little at the pun, the others all either groaned in disapproval or rolled their eyes at Yang's attempt at a joke before Xion got back on track again. "Well, it's nice to finally meet you all, you know, aside from when I got knocked over."

"I'm really sorry about that," Weiss apologized once again.

"Just don't make a habit of it, and it'll be fine," Xion reassured her with a smile. "Unlike my boyfriend, I'm not really one to hold grudges for nearly an eternity."

"Hey! I do not hold grudges for that long," Roxas protested.

"Roxas, need I remind you that you're still carrying a grudge against Riku from how he beat you almost a year ago," Xion questioned.

Roxas had no argument for that, at least not aside from anything other than crossing his arms and huffing in annoyance while grumbling, "He's the one who cheated by using those darkness powers like some kind of stupid, overpowered steroids."

Xion just giggled at her boyfriend's attitude, apparently finding it silly, before giving him another kiss on the cheek and cooing, "Don't worry. I still think you're tough." Seeing Roxas blush with a happy smile showed that he had now recovered from whatever bruising his ego had taken just now, and Xion took that as her cue to move onto another matter. "So, what were you guys in such a big hurry for, anyway?"

"We were chasing after this Faunus riffraff that may be a student visiting from Vacuo for the Vytal Festival," Weiss explained, not noticing how Blake had shot her another glare for the way she described the monkey Faunus from earlier. "You didn't happen to see him, did you?"

Xion just stared at Weiss for a minute before she finally said, "Yeah…Most of what you just said went way over my head. What's a Faunus, what's Vacuo, and what the heck even is this Vytal Festival?"

"Oh…right, you wouldn't know about any of that, because of…well, you-know-what," Weiss remembered.

"We'll fill you in on all of those details later, Xion," Lea promised. "But more importantly, did you happen to see a blonde guy with a monkey tail and an open shirt run past you before we met up?"

Xion crossed her arms in thought for a minute before answering, "I think I might have seen someone like that before I was teleported down from the gummi ship that Terra brought me over on, but the only person I really noticed was Weiss. I hadn't even realized Penny was standing next to me until one of you guys mentioned her to me."

"Well it was worth a shot," Ventus sighed. "Guess we'll just have to find him the old fashioned way."

The others all would have nodded in agreement, had they not had to come to a sudden stop at seeing Penny somehow standing right in front of them with an odd look on her face, much to their surprise. "What did you call me," the odd girl asked.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me," Yang quickly apologized, thinking that Penny was referring to when she had called her weird, while Weiss and Ven darted their heads back and forth in bewilderment, trying to figure out how the girl had gotten in front of them from where she was without any of them noticing.

"No, not you," Penny corrected, stepping past Yang and the others until she was standing right in front of both team leaders, and getting a little too close for their comfort. "You two!"

"Us," Sora and Ruby both exclaimed in question.

"I-I don't know, I—what I—um, uh…" Ruby stuttered, while Sora just rapidly glanced about in an attempt to figure out what he could have said that may have been offensive to this girl in some way.

"You called me 'friend,'" Penny clarified for Ruby before turning to Sora, all the while sounding really excited. "And you called me 'buddy'! Am I really your friend?"

"Uummm…" Ruby did not know what to say at this point, and ended up just looking over Penny's shoulder to see what her teammates and friends' thoughts were. It should not be surprising that the rest of Team RWBY were motioning for her to say no, but what Ruby did find interesting was that while all of Sora's friends were doing the same, they were mostly directing their signals to Sora, and in a way that seemed a little more panicked than those of her teammates, to her confusion.

Ruby would soon figure out why they were so insistent on Sora saying no, because Sora had already had his answer loaded even before the others started to discreetly signal him. Too bad for them it was not the one they were telling him to give. "Sure, of course we are," Sora smiled happily.

"Yeah, why not," Ruby shrugged soon after, mainly just going with the flow that Sora had set at this point, even if it did make her ignore the others' silent signals.

The rest of Sora and Ruby's friends could only give the two disbelieving stares before comically falling to the ground. Not that Penny ever seemed to notice, since she was practically glowing at their answers, and happily pulled the both of them into a bone-breaking hug as she happily cheered. "Ahaha! Sen-santional! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!" She had to pause at that last one, apparently only just now realizing that Sora was a boy, but just as quickly added on to her statement afterwards. "Along with all kinds of other fun subjects that friends talk about!"

"Ooh, is this what it was like when you met me," Ruby quietly groaned to Weiss, now finding herself as the one in the familiar situation that Weiss had been in earlier.

"No, she seems _far_ more coordinated," Weiss instantly replied after dusting herself off.

"Geez, just how bad of a first impression did those two leave on each other," Xion asked.

"Now that is a long story that involves a lot of yelling, arguing, and a few explosions," Lea replied, only confusing Xion a little more. "We'll tell you more later."

"So…what are you doing in Vale," Yang decided to ask Penny, seeing as they were not likely to get rid of her anytime soon.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament," Penny happily replied, surprising everyone.

"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament," Weiss questioned in surprise. She was definitely not expecting one of the competitors to be so…well, someone like Penny.

"I'm combat ready," Penny saluted with pride, apparently thinking that was the best answer she could give. It did little to change the impression that everyone had of her.

"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part," Weiss said, voicing what nearly everyone was thinking.

"Says the girl in a dress," Blake disputed.

"It's a combat skirt," Weiss immediately shot back.

In an instant, Ruby was right by her partner's side with a proud smirk as she said, "Yeah!"

If that was not a reminder that at least half of Blake's team wore such attire, then the low-five that Ruby and Weiss shared right after that sure did. What surprised everyone was when Lea suddenly said, "Honestly though, I kinda have to agree with Ice Princess." He then smacked his lips a little before adding, "Wow, that felt really strange to say. But anyway, even Xion looks more threatening than you, Penny."

"I'm right here," Xion reminded the redhead a little irritably.

"Wait a minute," Weiss realized before any further arguments could break out. Walking over to Penny, Weiss immediately began to question, "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed…rapscallion?"

"The who," Penny confusedly questioned.

"The filthy Faunus from the boat," Weiss clarified while showing Penny a very badly drawn picture of the monkey-boy in question.

Looking at the picture in Weiss's hand, Roxas found that he could only say, "I'm not sure if the quality is due to it being a rushed job or not, but judging by that picture, I'd say that Weiss doesn't really have much of a future as an artist."

"Nope. Naminé, the Ice Princess is not," Lea agreed, with Xion nodding in equal consensus, none of them ever noticing how Blake had seemed to grow a little more irritated with Weiss until she finally spoke up.

"Why do you keep saying that," Blake interrupted, surprising everyone with how upset she sounded and looked. Of course, it was a lot less surprising that she was focusing most of her attention on Weiss. "Stop calling him a rapscallion. Stop calling him a degenerate. He's a person!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to this trashcan as a 'trashcan,' or this lamppost as a 'lamppost,'" Weiss then sarcastically questioned, her attention now fully off of Penny and onto Blake.

"Stop it!"

"Stop _what_? He clearly broke the law! Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang."

"Weiss, the guy hitched a ride on a boat. That's not any reason to think he's likely to go and become a terrorist. Besides, he seemed a bit more like the loveable mischief maker type to me than the type to hurt someone without a care," Lea disputed, hoping that he could help diffuse this situation before it got too out of hand. He failed, to say the least, because after hearing all that Weiss said, Blake finally snapped.

"You ignorant little brat," Blake growled heatedly before spinning on her heel and angrily marching away, trying to put some distance between her and the Schnee heiress.

Needless to say, everyone was shocked that Blake had actually said that. Sure, they knew that she hated people that treated Faunus poorly for some reason, but aside from when the girls had confronted Team SLVR a week ago about their secrets, none of them had ever seen Blake get so upset. From what most of them could see, this was probably even worse than that, and as usual, it did not seem like Lea was going to help the situation.

"Oh no she didn't," was the first thing that Lea muttered after watching Blake storm off for a minute.

"Not helping, Axel," Roxas admonished, having already seen Weiss was preparing to shoot back. He probably should have said something to Weiss first though, because she was already moving by the time he had turned to her.

"How dare you! I am your teammate," Weiss snapped before anyone could stop her, marching right up to Blake soon after.

"You are a judgmental little girl," Blake retorted like clockwork, no longer feeling like she needed to distance herself.

"What in the world makes you say that?!"

"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be."

"So you admit it; the White Fang _is_ just a radical group of terrorists."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

As the two continued to bicker back and forth with no signs of stopping, Ruby, Yang, Xion, and the boys felt their worries increase more and more. They all knew that Weiss was not likely to back down when her views were challenged, but this was the first time that Blake had ever spoken out so passionately and angrily on a subject, and she did not seem anymore likely to concede defeat than Weiss. Things were only likely to escalate from here, and the Keybearers all knew that it was only a matter of time before someone said or did something that they could not take back afterwards. They wanted to try and step in to help, but for the life of them, not a single one of the other worldly adventurers knew what to do. It honestly seemed like no matter what they said or did right now, they would likely end up ostracizing one of the two girls, and that was the last thing they wanted. Plus, the fact that Blake was being so vocal and emotional on the whole matter was kind of scaring them a little. This was a whole new side of her that they had certainly never seen before.

After staring back and forth between the two for a few more minutes, the boys eventually came around to asking why they were even worrying about this so much. Sure, Blake and Weiss were their friends, but this was not necessarily their mess to help clean up. If anything, it was more of a job for Blake and Weiss's teammates, but it did not seem like the sisters were too sure on what to do either, given how they were just standing there watching their partners go at it. That did make them feel bad for even considering to leave Ruby and Yang to deal with this, but what else could they really do at this point? Besides, there was another matter that they had to attend to right now that was not only being put off a bit, but was also getting a little soured by this whole argument.

"Sorry Xion. This is not really what I had in mind for when you finally came to visit us here at R…Vale," Roxas said to his girlfriend, just barely stopping himself from saying Remnant as opposed to Vale since Penny was still with them.

"I know it isn't," Xion reassured him before turning back to the arguing girls. Seeing that Weiss and Blake were still going and showing no signs of slowing down, she could not help but ask, "Is this normal for them though?"

"Kind of, but kind of not," Lea hesitantly shrugged. "I mean, Weiss does tend to act all high and mighty a lot of the time, but Blake's usually not this…this…"

"Involved? Emotional? Loud," Ventus supplied.

"Yeah, all of that," Lea confirmed while nodding to the blonde in thanks.

Hearing the Keybearers conversing with each other, Yang turned to them and said, "Maybe you guys should go. No reason for you all to have to see any of this inner-team drama."

"You sure, Yang," Sora asked, not wanting to leave her and Ruby to have to deal with this on their own.

"Positive. Your friend did come all this way to have a fun visit with you guys. There's no reason for you to ruin that by having to help with something like this," Ruby reassured him.

Sora was still a little worried about leaving the sisters with this mess, but considering how certain Ruby seemed to be about how well they could handle it, he found it hard to argue. Besides, she did have a point when she mentioned the reasons for Xion's visit. It would not do for them to give her a sour impression of their friends or Remnant by making her stick around to watch all of this, but that did not mean Sora was willing to let things slide completely.

"Okay, I guess we'll just get going, but we'll check in with you guys back at school later to see how things have turned out," Sora promised.

"Thanks," Yang and Ruby both nodded in appreciation, as Sora led all of the Keybearers away from the verbal battle ground.

Just barely a few minutes after they had left, they realized that Penny had chosen to follow them, or more specifically, Sora, and when she realized her presence had been noticed, Penny happily asked, "Where are we going?"

"Uh…We're giving Xion a tour of Vale, since this is the first time she's been here," Sora explained to her. "Afterwards, most of us are probably going to do our own thing so that we can leave Roxas and Xion alone for a bit."

"Oh that sounds fun! Can I join you all? It's my first time in another kingdom, too," Penny requested.

Once again, the others were all shooting Sora pleading looks while silently signaling him to deny her, but Sora paid no heed to them, and replied, "Sure. Just stick with us and you'll see tons of fun stuff."

While Penny grinned happily at her acceptance into the tour, the others could only groan miserably, even if they did somehow manage to keep it quiet enough to avoid being heard by the oddly happy child. That did not stop Lea from moving closer to Sora, and asking, "Sora, did they not have the concept of 'stranger-danger' on Destiny Islands, or do you just have some kind of obsession that prompts you to try and make friends with every weird person you meet?"

"Okay, one, we do in fact have that concept on the islands. It just doesn't get practiced very often since literally everyone on Destiny Islands knows each other," Sora replied, sounding rather annoyed by that particular part of the question. "And two, you don't really have much room to talk when it comes to being weird."

As entertaining as they found the conversation of the departing group to be, Ruby and Yang found their amusement vanishing once more when they turned back to Weiss and Blake, seeing them still arguing, and prompting them to both wonder if it really was smart to let their friends from other worlds leave like that, because it seemed like this was going to take a while to resolve.

* * *

Just as Sora said, after giving both of the girls a tour around Vale, or at least the best one that they could give, seeing as they were not actually from this world, the other three boys and Penny departed from Roxas and Xion so that the two lovebirds could have some time alone in an unofficial date. If you were to ask Roxas though, he would tell you that it counted as an official date, much to Xion's amusement and full-hearted agreement, prompting an eye-roll from the rest of the guys. Really, the two were cute, but sometimes, it was to the point of being overly cheesy and cliché. Whatever the case, the pair still appreciated their friends letting them have some alone time in order to properly catch up. Now the only thing that the guys had to do was figure out some way to ditch Penny without the girl realizing that they were ditching her or getting her feelings hurt.

Oddly enough, they did not need to do that much, because Penny actually ended up excusing herself shortly after she realized that the sun was beginning to set, and the boys then spent the rest of the day just hanging out in Vale so that they could take in the sights of how festive the city was becoming now that so many decorations were up for the Vytal Festival. Of course, they were mostly just hanging around in order to avoid Nora and her questions, but they knew that they could not stay in the city forever. There would eventually come a time when they had to get back to Beacon, whether it was the weekend or not. Thankfully, Sora had figured out how to use his Gummiwatch to control the stealth gummi ship's teleporter and allow them to use a site-to-site teleportation to get in and out of the school without anyone noticing, so now all they had to do was hope that Nora was not waiting for them outside their dorm room in an attempt to ambush them if they wanted to leave the room for anything. After all, just because they could use the teleporter to get from the school to Vale and vice versa, did not mean that they could do that to get all over the school without someone noticing.

When they did return to their dorm room, they found that Roxas and Xion were already there, munching on what looked to be sea-salt ice cream. When Lea asked if they were seeing things, the two confirmed that it was real, and that they finally found a shop in Vale that sold the treat. Oddly enough, Roxas said that it looked like it might have even been owned by Scrooge McDuck, reinforcing once again just how well-traveled the richest duck in the worlds was. The two had even brought back some for the other three as well, and would have immediately started passing them out, had they not suddenly heard angry yelling coming from just down the hall.

Peeking his head out the door just to make sure Nora was nowhere to be found, Sora verified that the coast was clear, and the Keybearers quickly made their way to the source of all the yelling, the two voices growing clearer until they were right outside Team RWBY's door. None of them knew whether they should be gaping in surprise or sighing tiredly at what they already figured was going on inside, so for now, they just settled for Sora knocking on the door to see if it would be alright for them to come in. When Ruby opened the door, she did smile a little bit upon seeing them, but it was clearly half-baked and very strained, and they all had a good idea why.

"They're still going at it," Sora asked.

"I'm not even sure if they've even stopped while we were eating dinner," Ruby replied, stepping aside so that Sora and the others could come inside, allowing them to better hear Weiss and Blake continue their…conversation from earlier.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem," Weiss snapped at Blake from where she was sitting on her bed.

"That _is_ the problem," Blake shot back from her seat directly opposite of Weiss.

"You realize you're defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil."

"There's no such thing as pure evil!"

"Ahem," Lea coughed as loudly as he could, interrupting the two ladies and letting them know that their audience had grown back to the size it had been when they first started this battle of words. Once he had the girls' attention, he immediately began listing a certain bunch of names while counting them off on his fingers. "The Heartless, Xehanort, Vanitas, Xemnas, Ansem the Seeker of Darkness…"

"Not to mention Maleficent, someone who proudly boasts her title as the mistress of all evil," Sora added in, getting a nod of agreement from Lea.

"Well, yeah, Maleficent, Xehanort, and his Nobody and Heartless could count, but I'm not so sure about Vanitas and the Heartless," Ventus disputed. "Those two are more pure darkness than pure evil."

"Sure, if you ignore the fact that their actions definitely fall into that category," Roxas reminded him.

"Good point," Ventus nodded.

"Okay, I'll give you that, but this is completely different," Blake protested before turning back to Weiss. "Why do you think the White Fang hates humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like _you_ that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me," Weiss demanded.

"To be fair, your family's company isn't exactly well known for being really good to its Faunus workers," Roxas reminded Weiss, earning him a discreet elbow from Xion as her way of telling him that was not helping. "Sorry. I'm just saying…"

"And that's without the fact that you're discriminatory," Blake accused Weiss.

"I'm a victim," Weiss retaliated, surprising everyone into silence with that remark. Even Lea did not have anything to say to that, and seeing that she had the full attention of the room on her, Weiss figured she might as well explain why she said that. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus? It's because they've been at war with my family for years."

"Please tell me you mean as in various protests and employee strikes that made getting work done harder for everyone else," Sora could not help but ask.

"No, I mean war as in actual bloodshed," Weiss sadly replied as she turned to lean on the bookshelf by the window, unable to really handle the weight that always came when she had to talk about this heavy subject. "My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember, and ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear, board members executed, an entire train car full of Dust…stolen. And every day, my father would come home furious, and that made for a very difficult childhood."

Hearing all of that did seem to gain Weiss a little bit of sympathy from Blake, along with everyone else, but only Ventus and Ruby dared to move closer so that they could offer the young heiress a supportive shoulder. It was only natural for Ruby to do so, being Weiss's partner and all, but when they saw Ventus do the same, most of the others could not help but smirk a little bit, or at least they would have if it were not for the tension that was currently in the air right now after hearing about that little bit of Weiss's history. And unfortunately, things were about to get a little worse.

Weiss did not want to accept any form of pity, as she proved after angrily shrugging off Ruby and Ventus both and then going right back to glaring at Blake. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang," Weiss demanded of Blake. "It's because they're a bunch of liars! Thieves! And murderers!"

If any of them were expecting Blake to be cowed by Weiss's words, they had little time to be disappointed, because what she said in retort had ended up being far more shocking. "WELL MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!"

No one could say a word after hearing that. They were all too busy trying to process the fact that Blake had said "we" instead of "they", which could only have meant one thing that none of them had been expecting. Even Ruby and Sora were staring at Blake in shock after hearing that, but none of them seemed to have been taking that declaration harder than Blake herself. Judging by the look on her face, Blake had not meant for that to slip out, but now that she had, any and all righteous anger that had been in her eyes before was now gone and replaced with great shame, sorrow, and above all fear. That last one was most obvious to Roxas, Xion, and Lea, considering it was one that they were all familiar with, but in her current state, Blake was not able to recognize any of that. All she knew was that she had just let out a majorly huge secret, and none of her teammates or friends seemed to be taking it very well.

"…I…I…" Blake stuttered, but she was ultimately unable to say anything, and just ran out of the room as fast as she could.

"Blake! Wait! Come back," Ruby called out, being the first to realize how big of a mistake it was to have reacted like they had to hearing Blake's secret, but unfortunately, Blake was already gone, and Ruby was not sure that she could even catch her if she tried using her Semblance right now.

Luckily for Ruby, Sora was the second person to react, and he had an idea of his own on what to do. "Roxas, Xion," Sora started to say.

"We're way ahead of you," Roxas confirmed before Sora had even gotten to the actual order, and like that, he and his girlfriend were off and chasing after Blake.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to send those two after her right now," Yang asked Sora after the couple had left. She wanted to go after Blake and help too, but right now, she had to wonder if it might have been better to just let her be alone for a little while, especially given how Weiss was glaring in the direction that the blonde's partner had taken off in.

"Positive," Sora nodded. "Besides, if anyone can help Blake right now, it would definitely be those two."

"Why should we even bother? I think it's pretty clear what's happening here," Weiss questioned with a huff.

"Weiss, do us all a favor, and shut your damn mouth," Lea snarled angrily, startling everyone with just how upset he sounded right now, and when she saw how he was glaring at her, Weiss felt it would be much better for her health if she did as he said.

Seeing the white haired girl had been silenced, Lea spun around on his heel and marched back to his room, not particularly caring whether or not Nora might jump him on the way back to Team SLVR's room, leaving Sora and Ventus with the rest of the girls. "Sorry about him," Ventus said.

"Don't be. I mean, everyone's kind of running on some pretty high emotions right now," Yang tried to play off.

"She's right. Maybe we should all just call it a night and let cooler heads prevail later on," Sora suggested. When Ruby looked like she was about to protest, he immediately added, "Roxas and Xion will call to let us know if and when they find Blake, or just to update us on whatever they end up doing afterwards. The second they do, we'll be sure to let you guys know first, okay?"

"Promise," Ruby asked.

"Promise," Sora nodded in return.

Hearing that from Sora made Ruby feel a little more reassured, but she still could not help but worry as she turned in for the night. It was a feeling that Sora shared with her as he tried to convince himself to try and go to sleep, despite any worries he had for their friends.

* * *

Blake was not sure why she even bothered running. It was not like she had anywhere she could go, especially now that her teammates knew her secret, or at least part of it. Not that any of that was enough to make her stop running, and nothing did save for when she finally could not run anymore, too out of breath and too tired to really go much further than she had already gone. Upon looking up, Blake saw that she had stopped just before the statue that served as the center piece of Beacon's courtyard, and while others would probably consider it as comforting, right now, all it did was remind her of how most people were likely to view people like her, and how her teammates now more than likely thought of her now that they knew. In that moment, standing out in the courtyard all alone, Blake felt like she could not keep it in anymore, and did nothing to stop the tears from falling once she knew they were starting to form. The only thing she did do was reach up and undo the bow in her hair, letting her locks fall lose, while the pair of little, black cat ears underneath were revealed for all to see.

In her moment of sorrow, Blake failed to realize that she was not as alone as she thought. "Huh, I always kind of wondered how you would look without the bow, but I don't think I ever guessed that it would reveal you would have cat ears," a familiar voice admitted, making Blake slowly turn to see a very sympathetic-looking Roxas and Xion a short distance behind her. "How you holding up, Blake," Roxas asked, being the one who had spoken. When Blake did not say anything in response, Roxas just nodded and muttered, "Right, stupid question."

"What are you two doing here," Blake quietly asked, worrying Roxas and Xion both with how scared she sounded. "Are you here to take me down or arrest me? I mean, it's your job to protect the worlds from dangerous people, right?"

"Technically, our job is to protect the worlds from things like the Heartless and anyone who gives into the darkness in their hearts. Besides, why would we want to arrest a friend," Xion questioned, surprising Blake a little when she said that.

"Hey, if you were a bad guy, then I'm sure you would've taken any one of us out long before now, and I doubt that you would be this shaken up over what had happened back there," Roxas added. Seeing that Blake still seemed really uncertain of a lot of things, Roxas just shrugged and said, "You know what, how about we just get away from here for a little bit? Give everyone some time to clear their heads and think things over for a little while."

"You're not going to make me go back," Blake asked.

"Well, not right now, at least, but you are going to have to face the others eventually. Just know that none of us Keyblade wielders are ever going to judge you based on whatever happened in your past, White Fang or not, least of all Sora. Seriously, you'd be surprised how many of Sora's friends had been enemies of his at one point," Roxas reassured her. He then smiled as he added, "I'll bet that your teammates are the same way. I mean, Yang's your partner, and she's had your back almost nonstop since day one and Ruby…well, if what they say about everyone having a double on another world is true, then I'd say she's definitely Sora's."

"Oh good, I thought it was just me who noticed that," Xion jokingly sighed in relief.

Hearing Xion's joke did seem to make Blake smile at least a little bit, and she knew that the two were right about all that they said, but she did still have one concern. "And Weiss?"

That question made Roxas hesitate for a little bit, but he did still have an answer for her. "Like I said, everyone just needs a little bit of time, some more so than others. I wouldn't worry about her too much, though, if I were you. If Sora doesn't get Weiss to see reason, then I get the feeling that Axel might." He left it at that, and then gestured for Blake to follow them, and said, "Now come on. Let's see if we can find some place to spend the night for a while. I'd offer the stealth gummi ship, but I don't think you'd want to go somewhere that may end up being one of the first places that everyone would look."

Blake nodded in thanks to Roxas for his consideration, and then moved to replace her bow, until Xion suddenly came over and stopped her by placing a hand over the one that Blake was holding her bow in. "Why don't you leave that off for a while? I think you look a lot better without the bow, anyway," Xion smiled honestly. "And I'm not just saying that because I think your kitty ears are really cute."

Hearing that from Xion made Blake blush a little bit, but she did appreciate the compliment if her smile was anything to go by. Her smile quickly vanished though when another new voice suddenly called out, "I'm with her on that. You definitely look a lot better without the bow."

Spinning around once again, the three all instantly laid eyes on the monkey-tailed Faunus from earlier that same day, perched up on one of the lampposts that lined he courtyard. "Hey, you're that stowaway from the docks," Roxas accused.

The boy just grinned in confirmation, apparently not the slightest bit ashamed of the fact that he was recognized because he had broken the law, and then leapt down to stand before them with a repeat of the acrobatics he had showcased when they first saw him today. "'Sup? Name's Sun Wukong," the boy greeted, finally giving them a name to go with his face. When he saw no one looking like they were going to be taking a friendly approach with him, he immediately raised his hands and said, "Hey relax! I'm not here to cause trouble or anything."

"Said the guy who was running from the cops a few hours ago," Roxas reminded him.

Sun just shrugged in reply before admitting, "Like I said before, a no-good stowaway would've gotten caught, and I never did. Besides, is that really any way to treat a fellow huntsman-in-training that's visiting from another school?"

Hearing that surprised Roxas, Blake, and Xion a little, but only the boy of the three could say anything in response to this revelation. "Huh. I guess Weiss was right when she said that students from Vacuo were going to be arriving today."

"Actually, I came here from Mistral," Sun admitted. "I mean, I did grow up in Vacuo, but I moved to Mistral a little while back."

"So, what about the rest of your team? Aren't they with you," Xion asked, having been filled in on the matter of how all students that were enrolled in the huntsmen academies were put onto teams while Roxas and the others were showing her around Vale earlier today.

"Nah, they're going to start arriving a little closer to the start of the next semester," Sun waved off. "Besides, there was no way I was going to be able to get one of them on a boat. He's got a really serious fear of water."

"You too, huh," Roxas asked, surprising Sun a little. "My best friend has the same phobia."

"You don't say," Sun grinned. "Was he one of those other guys I saw with you at the docks?"

"Yeah, the tall redhead."

"Cool," Sun nodded. He then grinned a little bit more and asked, "So what're your names?"

"Oh, I'm Roxas, and this is my girlfriend, Xion," the blonde Keybearer introduced.

"Nice to meet you both." Sun then turned to the cat Faunus of the three, and asked, "And what about you? Do I get to know the name that belongs to the pretty face?"

That earned him another blush from Blake, despite her attempt to hide it, but she did still answer all the same. "Blake. Blake Belladonna."

"Wow. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl," Sun complimented, making Blake's blush darken a little more. "So, what're you guys doing out here, anyway?"

Hearing that question reminded the three of the situation that they currently found themselves in, and Blake's mood darkened a bit right after that, much to Sun's concern. Since he knew that Blake probably was not up to repeating the story of what had transpired earlier, Roxas just motioned for Sun to follow them and said, "Come on; we'll tell you on the way."

Sun did not really get just what was going on, but he was curious enough to not question the request, so he happily followed the three as they all departed from Beacon for a hotel or some other place that they could spend the night at in Vale. Of course, his happiness in the matter did drop a little as he heard what it was that had prompted the three to leave Beacon Academy for the night, but that did not drive him away, and Roxas, Xion, and Blake were all very grateful to him for that.

* * *

Trusting that Sora would be true to his word helped Ruby make it through the night after Blake, Roxas, and Xion had disappeared, and that also helped her a little bit when there was no sign of them after she woke up the following morning. She was still worried of course, especially after Sora told her that they had yet to hear anything from the couple, but Ventus had reassured her that everything would be fine. They all reasoned out that Blake probably did not want to be around Beacon right now, and that Roxas and Xion had probably helped her find somewhere safe to be until she felt better, so Ruby was able to get through the day a little easier with that in mind. Then again, the fact that she ended up spending the day with Sora again also helped with that, even if they did spend half of it looking for information on the friend he and the other Keybearers had come to Remnant in order to find once more, but they did just spend some time hanging out like a couple of good friends normally would too.

Yang on the other hand was much more worried about Blake than her sister. Not surprising, considering that Blake was the blonde's partner, but it did make it a little harder to reassure Yang that there was no reason to panic or get too worried just yet. Thankfully, Lea was able to better help Yang keep a cool head in that regard, and while it did mean that they ended up spending some of their date out on the streets looking for any sign of Blake, Lea could not find it in himself to care. As long as he was able to help Yang stay calm and not freak out, he was more than happy to do whatever it took. Plus, the fact that it kept him well away from Weiss was a huge benefit, considering that she was acting like she did not even care about whether or not Blake was okay at the moment, and that made Lea more upset with her than usual.

Eventually, Saturday had come and gone, and they were all sure that everything would start working itself out by the following morning. Boy were they wrong, because when the girls woke up the next day, Blake's bed was still as neat as ever, and looking like it had not even been touched. On one hand, they probably could have told the boys about this and seen if Roxas and Xion had called in with anything, but on the other hand, Blake was their teammate, so it was their responsibility to try and find her first and foremost. Besides, there was another reason to be worried, which Ruby was quick to point out shortly after she, Yang, and Weiss had arrived in Vale to look for Blake.

"She's been gone all weekend," Ruby sadly moaned as she led her team down the sidewalk in their search.

"Blake's a big girl. I'm sure she can handle herself," Weiss remarked, still acting like they were being silly worrying about their missing teammate like this.

"Weiss, come on. She's one of our teammates," Yang pleaded, hoping to appeal to the Schnee heiress's better side with that reminder.

"Is she," Weiss scoffed questioningly. "We all heard what she said."

"Weiss," Ruby immediately reprimanded.

"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. Either way, she's missing and we need to find her," Yang cut in before the two could start in their usual round of back and forth, knowing that this was not the time for it.

"You do remember that Roxas is already looking for her, right? And alongside of his girlfriend, at that," Weiss reminded them. "I'm sure that they would have found some sign of her by now, seeing as they're experienced world travelers. Why not just ask Sora and the others if they've heard anything?"

Before either sister could answer, they all spotted Sora, Ventus, and Lea a couple blocks ahead of them, and figured that they might as well go over and ask. When they got closer to the boys though, they all started to notice that they also seemed to be looking for something, and Ruby was getting a bad feeling in her gut about what it could be that they were trying to find. "Sora, have you guys seen Blake, or heard anything from Roxas and Xion about her," the hooded huntress inquired once they had all caught up to the Keybearers.

"Sorry Ruby, but we haven't heard anything," Sora apologized. "Roxas and Xion haven't checked in to even tell us where they are, and every time we try calling them on our Scrolls, Gummiphones, or Gummiwatches they don't answer."

"Is there really a difference if you use the Gummiphone or Gummiwatch to call them," Yang asked.

"I'm not sure, but I figured that it wouldn't have hurt to at least try and see," Sora admitted with a shrug.

"Besides, the fact that they're not answering either of those has definitely got us worried now," Ventus added on. "We all agreed on the way here that if we got any calls on the Gummiphone, be it from each other or one of our other friends, we'd consider it as high-priority and necessary to answer as soon as possible."

"So the fact that Roxas isn't answering is probably not a good sign, right," Weiss guessed.

"To say the least," Lea replied in a short, clipped tone. Clearly, he was still not likely to be in a great mood around Weiss after what happened Friday night.

"Don't you guys have some kind of tracking device in those gummi devices of yours that would help you find them," Yang asked. She remembered Chip and Dale telling them about that feature on said devices quite clearly on their visit to Disney Town.

"Tried them, and had just as much luck as calling the two," Sora admitted. "From what we can tell, it looks like Roxas and Xion have turned off their trackers."

"Well that's just great," Weiss grumbled. "As if this whole weekend wasn't filled with enough problems."

"What's that supposed to mean," Lea questioningly growled.

If Weiss did register any danger from the redhead, then she had clearly ignored it, because she pressed on like there was no problem. "Hello? We had a member of the White Fang right underneath our noses the entire time, and never once realized it!"

"I'm not so sure about that," Sora disputed, surprising Weiss a little. "Blake never actually said that she was a member of the White Fang. I mean, sure, what she did say does seem to paint that picture, but for all we know, she could just be a secret Faunus or an ex-member that's on the run. We won't know anything for sure unless we find her."

Ruby was glad to see that Sora was still keeping an optimistic attitude about Blake's status, at least when it concerned the White Fang, but it did little to alleviate her biggest worries. "I just hope she's okay," she moaned.

"If she's with Roxas and Xion, then I'm sure she's fine," Lea reassured the leader of Team RWBY, his voice now much softer and soothing than it was when he was talking to Weiss just a moment ago. Of course, that did not stop the hint of sadness from creeping into his eyes as he quietly recalled, "Those two have a pretty good deal of experience in looking out for themselves after having to leave someplace where someone didn't feel welcomed."

Yang was not sure why, but somehow, she got the feeling that Lea had meant something else when he made that last remark. It was just too odd that he would be looking like he had been recalling a rather upsetting time when he said that. Maybe it had something to do with his history as a member of the first Organization XIII, or maybe it was a memory about a less pleasant time in his friendship with the two, but Yang could not really say for sure one way or the other. She decided to get the answers on that later, because right now, they had some missing friends and teammates to find, and they all immediately went right back to their search afterwards.

* * *

"I really don't like this," Xion repeated for probably the fourth time since she and Roxas had turned off the trackers on their gummi devices. Not even the calm atmosphere of the outdoor balcony seating area of the café they were currently at eased her worries about this.

"I know, Xi, but keep in mind, Blake insisted that she didn't want the others to find us before she was ready to go back," Roxas reminded her. He did not like the decision anymore than Xion, but he did understand where the cat Faunus was coming from. In a way, they had been where Blake currently was once, so it would have been weirder if they did not get it.

Hearing the two talking about that matter made Blake feel a little guilty for making them promise her to not tell their friends where they were, but she did not want to risk the others finding them before she was ready to face them again. Roxas had insisted that turning off the trackers was their way of proving that they were willing to go at her pace, so she was at least comforted a little by that. Of course, having the two Keyblade wielders and Sun stick with her since they had left Beacon that night helped too, so after taking a quick sip of the tea she had ordered, and letting out a sigh, Blake finally made her decision.

"So, you guys want to know more about me," Blake asked after setting the tea cup down, startling the other three a little when she did.

At first, the others could not think of any way to reply, but Sun did manage to recover quickly enough. "Finally, she speaks! Nearly two days and you've given us nothing but small talk and weird looks," Sun practically cheered as he held his own cup with his tail. While his comment only made Xion and Roxas furrow their brows at him, Blake's first reaction was to glare at him a bit. Not that it seemed to faze Sun all that much, if at all. "Yeah! Like that."

Blake only rolled her eyes at the boy in response to that, while Roxas and Xion both had to wonder the exact same thing. _'Does anything phase this guy? He seems like he's almost as optimistic as Sora, if not more so, if that's possible!'_

No matter what their thoughts about the strange boy were, Blake was still determined to press on with what she was going to do now. "Sun…are you familiar with the White Fang," she started off.

"Of course! I don't think there's a Faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks if you ask me," Sun confirmed while voicing his own opinion of the Faunus rights group.

"That's pretty similar to the impression I got after hearing about them from Roxas and the others, at least, before…well, you know," Xion informed Blake, not wanting to bring up the Faunus girl's argument with Weiss right now.

Blake appreciated what the other girl was trying to do, and that did make it at least a little easier for her to continue with what she had to tell them. "I was…once a member of the White Fang."

The question that Roxas and Xion were wondering earlier got something of an answer when Sun choked on his tea in shock after hearing that confession, and the latter was quick to try and help clear Sun's airways with a few quick pats on the back. The former on the other hand, decided to address the issue that was brought up. "Was this before or after they switched to their more violent approach?"

"It was during both points. I was a member for most of my life actually. You could almost say I was born into it," Blake confessed, and she then decided to dive into a little history lesson on the group for all three of them. "Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between humans and the Faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings, and so, the White Fang rose up as a voice of our people. And I was there. I was at the front of every rally, I took part in every boycott, and I actually thought we were making a difference…but I was just a youthful optimist."

"Is it weird that when I picture a little version of you doing all those things like that in my mind, I can't help but think it looks cute," Xion suddenly asked, interrupting the story. Everyone just gave her a weird look for that comment. "What? She's a girl with kitty ears, and cats are cute, when they aren't the kind that are evil and try to kill you. Don't judge me."

Xion's interruption did at least make Blake smile a little for a minute or two, but her frown was soon back again as she continued on with the story. "Anyways, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labor, and the worst part was? It was working. We were being treated like equals, but not out of respect…out of fear." Blake needed to take another quick sip of her tea in order to calm her nerves after letting all that out, and once she had, she pressed on to the end of her story. "So, I left. I decided no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a huntress. So here I am. A criminal hiding in plain view all with the help of a little, black bow."

It took a moment for the other three to digest what they had just heard. It was hard for them to really imagine exactly what it must have been like for Blake to go through all of that before ending up where she was now, but they did find it admirable that she decided to turn her life around for the better and use her abilities to find a way to really make things better for other Faunus like her. Even so, it made Sun wonder one thing. "So…have you told your friends any of this?"

Blake just lowered her head in sad silence, giving him all the answer he needed, but that did not stop Roxas from saying something in her place. "It's a little hard to tell your friends about this type of thing when one of them has made it very clear that she has a…low opinion of people that are associated with the White Fang, and not without good reason, either." He then turned to Blake as he finished, "But I'm sure if you did tell them what you told us, they would all more than likely understand."

"Somehow, I'm not so sure," Blake disputed. She did want to believe Roxas, but after all that Weiss had said the other night, and the way she had run off, it was hard to keep any doubts on the whole thing at bay.

Upon hearing that answer, Roxas slowly turned to Xion, silently asking for permission to say the only thing he could think of that would likely help Blake with all of this. She was a little hesitant at first, but in the end, Xion still nodded in consent, but also gave him a look that said she would be the one to go first here. "Blake, do you think that Roxas and I are good people," Xion asked.

"Huh? Um…Of course of you are," Blake answered, a little bewildered by the question.

"What about Axel? I mean, you know he was a member of Organization XIII, and he's done some things that he isn't proud of, so do you think he's a good person?"

"He may have made some mistakes, but he's doing his best to make up for them now," Blake said. That was something that she had realized after hearing about the Keyblade wielders' history. "Besides, a lot of it was because he was afraid of what Organization XIII would do to him if he hadn't, and they are definitely the worst kind of people I've ever heard of."

"It's funny you should mention that, because…Axel's not the only one on our team that used to be part of the Organization. I was a member of the first Organization XIII as well, and so was Xion," Roxas revealed.

That was not something Blake had expected to hear, and while he did not understand most of what they were talking about at this point, Sun was able to get the basic gist of things. "Wait, you guys used to be…" he started to ask, only to stop short when he failed to come up with a word to describe this new group he was just now learning about.

"Some of the bad guys? In a way, yeah," Roxas finished for Sun. He then pointed at himself and Xion as he said, "Number XIII, Roxas, the Key of Destiny, and Number XIV, Xion."

Blake and Sun both waited in silence to hear what title Xion had been given, only for Roxas to remain completely silent. "The…" Blake prompted.

"That's it. I was never given a fancy title like the other members. They never even gave me a chair in the big meeting room, all because there was only ever meant to be thirteen of them. I was just something that they…happened upon," Xion revealed while still keeping a few details to herself. Since it was clear that Sun did not know the full story, it was better to not say too much. Besides, there were still days that she was not sure she really understood the full circumstances behind her existence, so why bother trying to explain things only to leave the other two really confused.

"But…why," Blake asked. "Weren't all the members of the first Organization Nobodies?"

Having already anticipated what Sun was likely thinking after hearing that question, Roxas quickly looked to him and said, "Not the kind of nobodies you're thinking. Nobodies, with a capital 'N', and yes, they were, and so were we, at least at the time. Xion and I are both a very unique case among Nobodies. We had a human form along with incredible powers that regular Nobodies don't have, but we didn't remember anything from before we became Nobodies. Of course, we were also some of the few Nobodies that had a chance to gain hearts of our own, even if we didn't realize it at the time, but that's a whole different story."

"When we first joined, we had no memories of our pasts," Xion picked up from there. "All we knew was how to carry out basic human functions. To be honest, Roxas was even better off than I was in that department, since he was actually able to talk. It took me a few weeks before I could even make myself say more than a few words, and that had made me scared to even lower my hood so that people could see my face for a while."

"I still remember the first time you spoke and showed your face. I thought I had been hearing things at first when I heard you slowly say my name, but when I looked back and asked you to repeat yourself, you answered, and I thought your voice was really beautiful. I'm lucky I was still able to talk myself afterwards, and I'm even more surprised that I didn't completely shut down after seeing your face for the first time the very next day," Roxas recalled with a fond smile, making Xion blush with a bashful smile as she played with her bangs a little.

While she did find the little moment that the two were sharing to be cute, Blake was more interested in the rest of this story they were telling. "Did you stay with them for as long as Lea did?"

"No, but it was pretty close," Xion admitted. "I actually tried to run away from the Organization more than once. The first time didn't end so well, but the second time…Well, I prefer not to think about it too much, considering what happened after."

Knowing what Xion was referring to, Roxas placed a comforting hand on hers before continuing on with the explanation. "For the longest time, we didn't really have a problem staying with the Organization. I mean, they took us in, put a roof over our heads and three meals a day, and all we had to do in return was help them collect hearts for their Kingdom Hearts by destroying Heartless with our Keyblades. It was not like we really had any way of knowing whether or not what we were doing was right or wrong, at least, not until we started asking questions that some of the members didn't want us to have answered, least of all the leaders of the Organization."

"I was the first to leave, because I had found out what they were hiding from me and Roxas, and I wanted to try and help make things right again, no matter what it took. I think that's actually what gave Roxas the push he needed to leave as well, even if it was mainly so he could find some more answers of his own, but either way, by that point, we were both convinced that no one would miss us. Well, no one other than Axel anyway," Xion added.

"It took a while, and we hit some bumps in the road, to put it mildly, but eventually, we did find our way onto the right path, and ended up giving Sora the strength he needed to stop the first Organization, before playing a huge part in stopping the True Organization XIII. So you see, Blake, you're technically not the only criminal hiding in plain sight here. Just the only one that had to add to your appearance in order to hide. Xion and I, the only thing we've ever had to do was stop wearing those stupid, black coats," Roxas concluded.

Now it was Blake's turn to take a moment and digest the information that had just been shared, and she could understand at least part of the reason why Roxas and the others had not mentioned any of this. After all, some of the things that Lea had done during his time as Axel were rather horrible, so they had probably assumed she and the others would believe that Roxas and Xion had done things just as bad if they had learned these two were part of the Organization at one point, too. Still, it did not quite clear up everything for her.

"Why would you tell me all of this now," Blake asked.

"First, tell me this: does any of it change how you think of us? Do you still think we're good people," Roxas asked.

"Of course I do," Blake automatically answered. "You've been nothing but good friends to me and the others ever since we met, and I can't help but have a hard time picturing Xion as anything but good, even if I haven't known her as long."

"There you go, then," Roxas said with a smile, confusing Blake a little. "If you and all the rest of our friends can still think of us in a good light, despite knowing what we've done, then I'm sure that the others will feel the same way about you, even with your history as a member of the White Fang."

Hearing Roxas say that made Blake smile a little more, and she had to admit, that did make it a little easier to believe that the others would be accepting of her if she told them all that she had told these three. Even so, she was still not quite ready to go back and talk to everyone just yet. There was one thing that she had to be absolutely sure of first.

* * *

While Blake was having her little confession time with Sun, Roxas, and Xion, and learning about the dark side of the latter two's past, the others were still searching as much of Vale as they could in an effort to find their missing teammates. Sora had tried reaching his fellow Keybearers on their gummi devices several times since he, Lea, and Ventus had met up with Ruby, Yang, and Weiss, but unfortunately, he had no more success than he did the last few times that he had tried calling Roxas and Xion. Even asking around had proven to be of little help, both at Blake's favorite hang-outs and at most of the ice cream shops that Roxas had frequented since coming to Remnant. Just because not all of them served sea-salt ice cream, did not mean that Roxas wrote off every shop that he had looked into. Regardless of this, no one was willing to give up in trying to find their friends, but considering that they had now started resorting to just calling out for the three while wandering the street, it did seem like they were running out of ideas.

"Blaaaake," Ruby called as loud as she could.

"Roxaaaaas," Sora shouted.

"Blaaake," Yang called almost as loudly as her sister.

"Xion," Ventus hollered.

"Blaaake?! Where are yooouuu," Ruby shouted once again.

"Roxas! Xion! Seriously I thought we were done doing this kind of thing," Lea called out, sounding slightly annoyed as he did, although, it could have something to do with the one person of the group who was not putting in any effort at the moment.

Ruby had noticed this as well, because while Yang called out for their missing teammate, she had immediately spun around to her partner and said, "Weiss, you're not helping!"

"Oh! You know who might be able to help? The police," Weiss replied, much to the displeasure of Ruby and Lea.

"Ugh, Weiss…"

"It was just an idea," Weiss insisted.

"Yeah, and if you suggest any other bad ones like it, I'll burn your hair off as a warning," Lea growled, earning him a reproachful look from his teammates. "What?! She's asking for it!"

"Lea," Sora snapped in return, apparently thinking that using his real name would add extra emphasis to his disapproval.

"…Fine," Lea grumbled before crossing his arms and marching ahead of the group, intent on putting as much distance between him and Weiss as possible.

Seeing this, the others all made sure to put themselves in between Lea and Weiss, forming a shield that could hopefully discourage or at least stop the redhead if Weiss managed to push him over the edge. They already had enough problems as it was without these two coming to blows. Once they were satisfied with their defensive line, Yang looked back to the heiress and reasoned, "Weiss, I think we should hear Blake's side of the story before we jump to any conclusions."

"Yeah, besides, maybe Roxas and Xion have heard it and are just making it hard to find them so she has a chance to get herself together before confronting us again," Sora added on.

"I think when we hear it, you'll all realize I was right," Weiss disputed. "Besides, for all we know, she's taken Roxas and Xion prisoner for the White Fang."

"Pft! Yeah, like that could happen. Those two are old pros at getting away from people that try to imprison them," Lea muttered when he heard that, barely keeping his anger in check at hearing Weiss's latest comment.

No one else seemed to hear the redhead, but Ventus did still make it a point to move closer to Weiss and whisper, "Yeah, I think that you should probably try to tone it down on that attitude a little bit before Lea really does make good on that threat of his. In case you haven't noticed, he's not exactly in the best of moods whenever you say stuff like that right now."

As much as she hated to admit it, Weiss actually did shiver a little in fright at how true Ven's warning seemed to be. After all, the man had seemed very likely to explode on her the other night, so she was well aware of how likely it was that she was on thin ice with Lea. Not that she would ever admit to being afraid of him. Before she could reply, Penny said, "And I think Weiss's hair looks wonderful today!" …Wait, what?

"DA-AAGH! Penny! Where did you come from," Ruby yelped as the group all spun around as one to see the strange girl right behind them.

"Seriously," Lea muttered. "Maybe Roxas was right when he mentioned that I might be losing my touch a while back. Even I didn't notice her until just now."

"Hey guys. What are you up to," Penny asked, dodging the question completely.

Seeing as neither Ruby or Sora were sure how to answer after having the former's question avoided, Yang took it upon herself to answer Penny. "We're looking for our friends Roxas, Xion, and Blake."

"Oooh! You mean the cute couple and the Faunus girl," Penny recalled.

Despite how casual she had said it, her description ended up causing the others to blink at her in silent surprise, until Ruby asked, "Wait, how did you know all that?"

"It's a little obvious that Roxas and Xion are in love with each other," Penny said.

"She's got a point. Even before they were a couple, it was pretty obvious that those two had a thing for each other," Lea admitted to everyone. He then looked back at Penny and asked, "But that doesn't explain how you knew Blake's a Faunus."

"Uh, the cat ears," Penny reasoned while pointing to the top of her head as if to indicate where said feature would be on Blake.

"What cat ears," Yang asked with a hint of a chuckle. "She wears a…bow…"

Everyone was silent due to having the same, delayed realization as Yang, leaving only the sound of the wind blowing to fill the void, along with a random tumbleweed rolling past them. "Anyone else feel a special kind of stupid right now," Ventus eventually asked, receiving only more silence in reply. "Okay, good. Didn't want to be the only one."

"Trust me; you're not," Lea muttered.

The girls were unable to really comment at all, until Ruby finally whispered, "She does like tuna a lot."

"So, where are they," Penny asked.

"We don't know. Blake's been missing since Friday," Ruby informed her.

"Roxas and Xion had gone after her, but we haven't heard anything from them either," Sora added on.

The next thing both team leaders knew, Penny was rushing up to them with worry all over her face, and saying, "That's terrible!" Her smile was back almost as quickly as she then promised, "Well don't you worry Ruby and Sora, my friends! I won't rest until we find your teammates."

"Uh, that's really nice of you Penny, uh, but we're-we're okay," Ruby stuttered, a little unsettled by the other girl's enthusiasm and exuberance.

"Yeah! We've got it covered. Really," Sora insisted in the same manner. Normally, he would not be this bothered by another person's little quirks, but Penny was a little more odd than he was used too. "Right guys," Sora then asked, hoping he could get some backup on the matter from his friends. Strangely enough, his only answer was silence. "Guys," Sora repeated while turning to the group, only to gape at what he saw. "Not again!"

Wondering what Sora was grumbling about, Ruby turned to where the others should have been, and saw that Yang, Weiss, Lea, and Ventus were no longer there, making it clear that they had ditched her and Sora with Penny. At that point, Ruby shared Sora's reaction, but she kept it to herself since she did not want Penny to be upset. That did not mean she was not already making plans to get back her sister and partner later for this betrayal though.

Sora on the other hand, already had a fool-proof plan on how to get back at the guys, and he made sure that Ruby could hear him so that she could pass along a warning to the two boys if she saw them before he did. "I am so telling Aqua."

* * *

Admittedly, the four friends did feel bad about leaving Ruby and Sora with Penny the way that they did, but it was not like splitting up so that they could cover more ground was a bad idea. They just neglected to tell Ruby and Sora they were going to do that before running off. Sure, Lea and Ven had a hunch that Sora would be mad enough to tell Aqua about this the next chance he had, but right now, they were more concerned with finding their missing friends than anything else. Well, Ven was worried about that, and also what would happen when Weiss finally pushed Lea too far, because he knew it was only a matter of time at the current rate they were going.

That time actually came just after they had left another shop, asking the owner if they had seen Blake, Roxas, or Xion. The results had come back negative, but at least they had marked another spot off the list. That was the impression Yang tried to give off when she thanked the owner of the shop while they left, but her optimistic appearance fell just after the door had closed behind her. "This is hopeless," Yang worriedly sighed.

"Hey, don't give up just yet. We'll find them before you know it," Ventus promised, while Lea just gave her a nod to show his agreement.

Yang appreciated that vote of confidence, but she would have liked it better if it had come from her teammate. "You really don't care if we find her, do you," Yang instantly accused Weiss.

"Don't be stupid. Of course I do. I'm just worried what she'll say when we find her," Weiss admitted at last. That made the others start to think that there was hope for her yet, until she added one last thing to her statement. "The innocent never run, Yang."

He did not even need to turn and face Lea to know the guy was glaring at Weiss now, and that was all the reason Ventus needed to gently back Yang away for when his friend exploded. To his surprise, the explosion was much different than he was expecting. "And what about the people who are scared?! You think they just sit on their asses and do nothing," Lea hotly demanded, pulling Weiss out of her cold exterior and into the fear she had been trying to hide ever since Friday night. "Maybe if you took off your stupid, self-centered blinders for two minutes, you would've seen how terrified Blake was after saying what she did, and how little your reaction to it had helped! What's it take to get it in your head that the world doesn't revolve around you to the point where everything you say and think must always be right?!"

"I have never once thought that," Weiss snapped back, now a little more angry than scared.

"Shut it! I'm talking here," Lea shouted back, silencing the heiress's retort as quickly as it had came. He then took a deep breath to better calm himself, and said, "Look, I get that bad stuff happened to you because of the White Fang, but you're letting your hatred of the current version dictate everything you know about it and the people associated with it. So Blake may or may not have been a member. Big deal. Do you really think she would have stayed with us for as long as she did if she still was? 'Cause I sure don't. If she really was a member of the White Fang, then why didn't she try and take us out before? I mean, it's not like she didn't have a boatload of chances in the past."

Weiss had to admit, Lea did have a point in all of that, but she still seemed unconvinced, and he must have realized this, even before she said anything. "I'm well aware that Blake may not be a member now, but that doesn't change that she had been before."

"So what? The fact that someone was part of a bad group and made some mistakes in the past automatically means they're always going to be a bad person? Well, then someone find me a long black coat so I can start doing all of the icky jobs again," Lea countered in an instant, immediately reminding Weiss of his own past. He was not quite done though. "Look, I know we didn't mention this before, but I'm not the only one on Team SLVR, or among any of our fellow Keybearers that used to work for the Organization. Roxas and Xion used to be part of the group, too, until they started thinking for themselves and asking questions that our boss didn't want them to know the answers too. When I found out the truth, you know what my first reaction was? To keep it from them, lie to their faces, and basically make sure that they never got out of line. I thought that by doing all of that, I was keeping them from being destroyed, but in the end, it didn't stop them from running away. I had wanted to go with them, but the truth is I was too scared of what would happen if we turned on the Organization. My fears and the fears that they had after learning even a little of the truth nearly tore our friendship apart."

"But…But you seem like you're such good friends," Weiss protested, unable to believe that the two people that were behaving like the cutest couple ever just a couple days ago were really part of a group like Organization XIII. Then again, it made a certain bit of sense. The Keybearers never did go into specifics about what kind of role Roxas and Xion had played in helping to take down the first Organization, and she was starting to see why.

"Doesn't mean we always were. My decision to lie and keep things from them messed things up really bad, and even though they were brave enough to leave, they were still too scared to really do anything other than just run wherever without any plan at all," Lea admitted. His glare finally dropped at that point in favor of a smile as he then added, "Even so, I never stopped thinking of those two as my best friends. I promised them both that no matter what happened or how long they kept on running, I would always be there to bring them back because of that, and I'll bet Blake's the same way. She's still running from so much, but more than anything, she needs her real friends to bring her back to where she really belongs: with all of you guys."

That seemed to surprise Weiss a little, but Lea could still see that he had left quite the impact on her, so he had no problem moving on to the next location in their search with that. Watching him go, Yang and Ventus could not help but stare after the man, surprised that he could be so deep, and that he had not tried to light Weiss on fire. Neither of them were sure which was more surprising, but they were not going to question it. After all, it was clear that he had convinced Weiss to think things over a little better for the next time she saw Blake.

* * *

Even though the others had abandoned them with Penny, Ruby and Sora were surprised to find that the odd girl was a big help in their own search efforts. She was making it a point to question everyone that they stopped to talk to, and without making things too weird or giving away that Blake was a Faunus, but even with Penny's help their results showed no signs of improvement. They were not too upset by this, though. If anything, some of the questions that Penny was asking them served as a perfect distraction from their annoyance at their lack of success.

"So, Blake is your friend," Penny asked Ruby shortly after Sora had gone on ahead to ask at the next shop.

Ruby could not help but sigh at first, feeling like she had already explained this a few times over to the girl, but she still answered all the same. "Yes Penny."

"And Roxas and Xion are your friends too?"

"Yes, well, their more Sora's friends than mine, but I like to think that they're my friends too."

"But you're mad at them?"

"Yes! W-well, I'm not, Weiss is, and it's only Blake that she's upset with," Ruby clarified.

"Are Roxas and Xion friends with Blake," Penny inquired.

"Well, considering that they seem to be hiding her from us, I'd say so, but really, I'm pretty sure Sora and all of his friends are friends with all of us," Ruby admitted.

Penny was quiet for a few seconds after that, but she still had another question to ask after that. "Is _Weiss_ friends with Blake?"

"Well that's kind of up in the air right now," Ruby shrugged.

"But, why?"

Another sigh was drawn out of Ruby, showing how tired she was of having to address this little bit of drama, but she could not really blame Penny for that, so she gave the girl the best answer she could right now. "Well you see, Blake might not be who we thought she was."

That drew a gasp from Penny before she whispered, "Is she a man?"

_'How in the name of Oum did she come to that conclusion first,'_ Ruby wondered in astonishment. She kept it to herself though, not wanting to offend Penny, and instead said, "No, no, Penny, she's…I don't know what she is. She didn't exactly talk to us before she decided to run off."

Despite how quick her next sentence came, Penny did in fact think quite a bit about how to respond to Ruby's problem. "I don't have a lot of friends, but if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things."

"…Me too," Ruby agreed, finding it a little surprising that such a wise statement would come from Penny. It seemed that this odd girl was just full of surprises.

The girls continued on in silence for a little bit after that, until they saw Sora coming out of the next store they were going to investigate. Seeing Sora brought a curious expression to Penny's face, prompting her to look at Ruby and ask another question. "Is Sora your friend?"

"Yeah, of course. I mean, we met on my first day at Beacon, and we've been friends ever since," Ruby replied like it was obvious.

"Do you like him," Penny inquired.

"Um, yeah. It'd be a little weird if he was my friend and I didn't," Ruby pointed out.

"I meant do you like him as more than a friend," Penny innocently clarified.

Much like when her teammates were asking her about this topic, Ruby quickly became flustered and hoped that Sora had not noticed how red her face was. "What…Wh-where did that come from?!"

"One of the things I've always wanted to talk with friends about is cute boys, and whether or not we like them," Penny said, still sounding as innocent as ever while reminding Ruby of what she had said after she and Sora had confirmed they were her friends. "So…do you like him that way?"

Ruby glanced nervously between Penny and Sora, seeing that the Keyblade wielder was getting closer to them, and quickly whispered, "Okay, yes! I may have a crush on him…or I may just like him a little more than that, but please, don't tell him!"

"Why not? If you like him, shouldn't you tell him," Penny asked, leaving Ruby amazed at the level of this girl's innocence.

"Tell who about what," Sora asked, startling Ruby since she had not noticed how close he had gotten in that short amount of time.

"I was just saying to Ruby that she should tell you…" Penny started to explain, only for a scarlet-faced Ruby to slap a hand over her mouth.

"A-about some ideas I had for…for…names that I came up with for the various combo moves that my team could do," Ruby quickly stuttered in a frantic cover-up. "Yeah! Like for example, I was thinking that for me and Weiss, we could have a move called Ice Flower, or White Rose! Hehe."

Sora was a little bewildered by Ruby's behavior, but did not seem to think anything of it, and just smiled in reply. "Sounds cool, but I like that first one better. Sounds a lot more like a name for an attack than the second one."

"Yeah, I was just saying the same thing," Ruby chuckled as she slowly removed her hand from Penny, but still keeping it close by wrapping one arm around the girl's shoulder, in case she got any ideas about spilling the beans to Sora. "So…Any luck?"

"Nope. They weren't seen there, either," Sora sighed sadly, but he perked up again quickly enough. "But we're getting closer to finding them. I can feel it."

"Great! Well, let's get going then," Ruby insisted, pulling Penny ahead with her, while leaving Sora a bit stupefied by the way she seemed to be acting. Once she was sure that Sora was out of earshot again, Ruby quickly whispered to Penny, "Please, don't tell Sora that I like him!"

"But why not? Shouldn't you always tell someone how you feel if you care about them," Penny inquired.

"Well, yes, you should, but…I've only just realized that I might have a crush on him, and I'm not quite ready to let him know about that, so please, just keep it a secret between us, as friends," Ruby asked.

Any doubt that Penny had about hiding something from Sora was washed away upon hearing Ruby ask that, and she exclaimed, "Oh! I've always wanted to keep a secret between good friends! Okay Ruby, I promise as your friend, I will not tell Sora that you like him until you're ready to do it yourself."

Ruby was quickly hushing Penny again, out of fear that Sora might overhear them, and after looking back to check and see if he had, she breathed a sigh of relief to see he was still just watching them go, and whispered, "Thank you, Penny, now let's please get back to finding Blake, Roxas, and Xion."

After watching the girls for a minute, wondering what it was that had them so animated, Sora eventually just shrugged and sighed, "I'm friends with over a dozen different princesses and powerful women, and I still just don't understand girls."

* * *

Night had finally came to the city, and with it, the time that Blake felt she would finally get some answers to another burning question that had been on her mind. Ever since she heard about the recent rash of Dust robberies and the leading suspects behind them, Blake was determined to prove that the White Fang was innocent. Sure, she would admit that the White Fang would sometimes make such robberies, but she did not think that they would make as many as there had been reported to be. As far as she knew, the White Fang had never needed that much Dust in the past, but all the same, she had to know for sure that Weiss and everyone else were wrong to suspect the Faunus activist-turned-terrorist group. Thankfully, Sun was able to give her an idea on where they would be most likely to strike next: an area of the docks that was unloading a huge shipment of Dust from a Schnee company freighter. So, without a moment to spare, Blake had loaded up on everything that she would need, and came out to the docks in order to stakeout the place.

Blake had not come alone, mind you, as Roxas and Xion both made it very clear to her that they were going to stick by her side until this whole mess was over. Sure, it was obvious the couple was not quite as willing to believe that the White Fang was not responsible for the robberies, but Blake was happy to see that they were at least keeping an open mind, unlike many others. Regardless of this, Roxas had still made her promise that no matter what happened here, they would go back to Beacon and talk with their friends, and even though she was a little worried about how that would go, Blake was willing to admit that she did miss the rest of her team. In fact, a small part of her actually wished that they were here right now to help, but this was something she had to do without getting her other friends involved. Or at least, anymore of them than she already had.

"Feels a lot like old times, huh," Blake heard Xion ask from where she was crouching on the rooftop. "Hiding in the shadows, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious or interesting…"

"Yeah, only this time, we don't have to wear those stupid coats and worry about them getting caught on something every few seconds," Roxas agreed. "Like those first few times when we went to Beast's Castle, remember? I swear, every single sharp and pointy object had it out for me with how often my sleeve got stuck on them."

"Hey, at least you didn't have to worry about any cobwebs getting in your hair," Xion reminded him with a giggle. "Although, I do remember one particular mission there better than all the others. Namely that time from back when I was having trouble using the Keyblade, and you lent me yours so I could get a better feel for it?"

Roxas grinned despite himself, but still let out a small groan when he said, "You just love to bring that up, don't you? Seriously, it's bad enough that Axel still calls me Zombie-boy. You could at least have mercy on me and let that go."

"Not in this lifetime, sweetie," Xion just smiled teasingly.

"What're you talking about," Blake asked, feeling a little curious.

"Okay, so this was way back before Roxas and I both gained our own Keyblades, and the ones we were using were basically just copies of Sora's. Roxas lent me his to use for the duration of our mission that day, and when I asked him what he was going to use in its place, he looks around for a few minutes, until he finally finds something that he could proudly declare would be his weapon," Xion eagerly regales.

"And it worked, didn't it? I was able to fight the Heartless without any problems with my improvised weapon," Roxas insisted.

"Roxas, that was a stick. Don't try and pretend like it was the greatest thing ever," Xion corrected.

If it were not for her sense of self-control, Blake probably would have burst out laughing upon hearing Xion's retort. She almost missed Roxas's rebuttal about how someone named Demyx had a much dumber weapon than that, but she did manage to get her head back in the game when Sun suddenly appeared on her other side. "Did I miss anything," Sun asked.

"Aside from an embarrassing story about Roxas, not really," Blake replied, getting in some of her own teasing at the blonde Keybearer, much to his protest. She then got fully serious as she reported on what had happened during their watch. "They've offloaded all the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there."

"Cool," Sun shrugged.

"Anyone else think it's a little weird that security seems so lax," Xion suddenly asked.

Looking over the area, Roxas immediately realized what his girlfriend meant. "She's right. With all the recent Dust robberies, you would think that there would be a few more guards or even some of those Atlesian Knight robots I've heard about."

"Well, maybe someone at SDC didn't hear about it, or they just don't think that it's as serious as other people have implied," Blake suggested. "I'm sure you noticed from hanging out with Weiss that people who work for that company aren't exactly the type to worry about anything other than the amount of money they would lose or gain from their work, and their reputation."

"Hey, Weiss may have been like that at the start, but she's not that bad now…Kind of," Roxas defended, only adding the last bit as a joke.

"Still, with us on the job, I'm sure that they won't have anything to worry about, lack of security or not," Sun said with a reassuring grin. The other three had to admire the guy for his optimism, and would have said as much had he not held out an apple to Blake while saying, "I stole you guys some food."

"Are you serious, man? We're trying to _stop_ a robbery and you're stealing from someone else," Roxas questioned.

"Lighten up, dude. It's just a couple of apples," Sun brushed off.

That earned him a disapproving eye-roll from the former Nobodies, while Blake just had to ask, "Do you always break the law without a second thought?"

"Hey, weren't you guys all in a cult or something," Sun questioned, but he instantly flinched back a little when his answer ended up being not one, not two, but three silent, angry glares. "Okay, too soon."

"Ya think," Xion asked, rhetorically. "And for the record, the Organization was not a cult."

"I don't know; when you consider the fact that we all wore long, black coats with hoods, and that said coats were a lot like robes in a way," Roxas started to reason.

"Not helping, Roxas."

Blake was about to shush the two into silence when the wind suddenly picked up around them, making them all duck down a little while the girls raised a hand to keep their hair from being too messed up by the wind. Though in Blake's case, it was more so that she could keep her bow from getting blown away. Looking up, they all realized that it was not the wind blowing down on them, but the turbines of an airship flying towards the middle of the docks they were watching. The airship eventually landed right in said location, and opened up a boarding ramp so that its passengers could disembark. When she caught a glimpse of the first person to come off the airship though, Blake felt her heart sink at the sight of the white and black uniform, with a too-familiar red logo shaped like a wolf's head in front of three, long scratches on the back.

"Oh no," Blake whispered miserably.

"Is that them," Sun asked, now turning fully serious.

"…Yes. It's them," Blake confirmed.

As they continued to watch the White Fang soldiers piling out of the airship, Roxas and Xion felt a small, familiar prick at the edge of their senses. They ignored it for now, because at the moment, they were more concerned about Blake. There was no way she was taking the sight of the organization she had been part of for so long doing something like this very well, especially after the way she had been defending them since Friday. Reaching out to put a reassuring hand on her new friend's shoulder, Xion could not help but ask, "Are you okay?"

"No," Blake sighed, not feeling like she could say much more than that on the subject, and she could feel her mood getting worse as she heard the soldiers shouting orders that would be necessary for stealing all the Dust.

"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you," Roxas asked.

"No. I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right," Blake admitted.

Sun, Roxas, and Xion all wanted to say something to try and raise Blake's spirits a little, but before any of them could, they all heard another voice coming from the docks where the White Fang was working. "Hey! What's the hold up? We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, sooo why don't you animals try to pick up the pace."

"That does not sound like someone that would be a member of the White Fang," Xion noted aloud.

"And he's not. Look," Roxas said while pointing to the person who had spoken. There, coming down the boarding ramp of the recently arrived airship, was the familiar face of a wanted criminal that he had seen a mug shot of on his way to Beacon. "That's Roman Torchwick!"

"The mobster guy that you and Axel mentioned," Xion questioned.

Before Roxas could answer, Torchwick looked back and then shouted, "And you guys, less standing around, or whatever it is you're doing back there, and more helping! Seriously, I thought having you guys here was going to make this go faster."

The four were a little confused as to who Torchwick could have been talking to, until suddenly, out from the airship, came several, silver creatures that Roxas and Xion easily recognized. "What the hell," Roxas gasped. "How did a punk like him manage to get control over some Nobodies, Dusks or otherwise?"

While she was a little stunned at the sight of seeing the empty, living shells for the first time, Blake was a little more focused on the other factors playing out before their eyes. "This isn't right," she said as she stood up and reached for her weapon. "The White Fang would never work with a human. Especially not one like that, and I doubt they would work with creatures like those without some questions."

Before any of the others knew what was happening, Blake had dropped down from the roof they were all sitting on, and disappeared into the shadows, likely attempting to get closer so that she could launch an attack on Torchwick, or any of the White Fang soldiers. Seeing that matters were well out of their hands now, Roxas could not help but sigh and summoned his Keyblades as he said, "Well, when in Vale…"

Just like that, Roxas had also vanished into the shadows surrounding the docks, leaving Xion and Sun to just shrug as they moved to a better position that they could provide better help from when the other two landed into trouble. Blake never seemed to notice any of them moving, as she was too focused on reaching her current target at the moment. The only things she ever seemed to take note of was the movements of the White Fang soldiers and the various Dusks that were now flittering about the area like some kind of watchdogs. While the Dusks made things a little more difficult for her, Blake had little trouble getting closer to Torchwick, because it was very clear to her that the White Fang's tactics had not changed greatly since she had left. Then again, from what she could remember, most of the White Fang did not usually consider that their tactics could be used against them, let alone by somebody that had once been one of their own, and right now, Blake was very grateful for that.

Dashing between the various cargo containers and the various shadows of the docks, Blake soon came as close as she could get to Torchwick without being spotted, and she had to narrow her eyes a little more when she heard the mobster talking down to one of the White Fang soldiers like he was a common animal. Sure, it was not the first time she had heard someone talking like that to a Faunus, but it still made Blake's blood boil when she did. Torchwick was about to learn this the hard way, because a minute after he had finished talking to the soldier, Blake burst out from her hiding place, and locked Torchwick in a hold while holding her blade to his neck.

"What the…" Torchwick exclaimed when he felt himself being grabbed and the cold steel of the blade on his neck. Glancing over his shoulder to see who was responsible, Torchwick could not help but roll his eyes in annoyance as he muttered, "Oh for f…"

"Nobody move," Blake shouted before the criminal could finish his curse. In direct opposite of her demand, nearly every White Fang member that was close to their location moved to train their weapons on her as a sign of caution, surrounding both Blake and her captive. In addition to the Faunus terrorists, the Dusks also started converging on her location, but they did not seem likely to stop like their compatriots. At least, not until an orb of light suddenly struck the ground between them and Blake.

When the small flash of light had settled, Roxas dropped down next to Blake, and pointed one of his Keyblades at the largest group of Dusks and quipped, "When the lady said 'Nobody move', she didn't mean it in the sense that only you guys were allowed to move."

"Alright, alright, take it easy, kiddies," Torchwick mocked with a knowing smirk.

Blake did not seem to think anything of it, but instead, released her hold on Torchwick just long enough to remove her bow, allowing everyone to see her cat ears underneath, and began to address the Faunus surrounding her and Roxas once she had secured her prisoner again. "Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum," Blake loudly demanded.

Seeing that one of the people they were targeting was a Faunus, and hearing her address them as if she were one of their own seemed to get the White Fang members around them to hesitate a little, but it did not do anything to slow down the Dusks, as they still began moving forward again, albeit a little more slowly than before. Seeing this, Roxas readied both of his blades to attack and said, "I thought I made it clear that you guys weren't allowed to move." The Dusks did not seem to pay him any mind this time, prompting Roxas to shout, "I said stay where you are!" If the Dusks had even stopped a little, it was only for a brief, unnoticeable moment, because they still seemed ready to jump at any moment, and that gave Roxas all the incentive he needed to play his trump card. "I am Number XIII of the original Organization XIII! You will obey my orders and stand down if you do not wish to be destroyed!"

That last one did manage to get the Dusks to freeze in their tracks, and even start sparing looks with each other as though they were questioning the validity of Roxas's orders, but Blake had to wonder how long that would hold up. Before she could ask, Torchwick suddenly let out a chuckle and remarked, "Heh, oh kids. Didn't either of you get the memo?"

"What're you talking about," Blake questioned.

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together," Torchwick shamelessly admitted. He then turned to Roxas and said, "And as for you, Blondie, I'm pretty sure that your authority over the Nobodies is no longer valid. They've got a new boss that's also part of this venture."

Hearing that made Roxas freeze a little, having not expected that at all. Sure, the Nobodies had been very docile since the end of the Second Keyblade War, but neither he nor any of his other friends had ever suspected that it may have been because someone else had taken up the reins of their control. You could not blame him though; the idea made absolutely no sense. Dusks were not like the Heartless, answering to whoever was the strongest; they only ever took commands from other Nobodies, be it a stronger variety of Dusk or the members of the Organization, be they the original or the second version. Hearing that there was now someone out there who managed to seize control of the living empty shells was definitely a cause for concern, and Roxas did not intend to wait around for the answers to reveal themselves.

"Who is this new boss," Roxas demanded with a glare in Torchwick's direction, while making sure to keep one of his Keyblades pointed at the Dusks so that they would not realize he was bluffing when he made that earlier threat.

Torchwick just kept silent, his smirk never faltering, and Blake took that as incentive to press her blade against the crook's throat a little harder. "Answer him, and tell me what this joint venture is or I'll put an end to your little operation," she threatened.

The only answer either swordsman received was the sound of turbines humming overhead, while the wind picked up around them once again, prompting them to glance up as Torchwick shouted, "I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation."

What greeted Roxas and Blake's eyes when they looked up was an additional pair of airships moving into the area, most likely ready to drop off some backup or to aid in the theft that the White Fang was helping Torchwick with. If that was not enough, atop both of the aircrafts were several more Nobodies, all of which Roxas identified as the long-range variant of Dusks, known as Snipers, all of them poised and ready to shoot at Roxas and Blake at any given moment. The visual evidence of a crook like Torchwick having access to such resources was just too much for Blake and Roxas to take in, right to the point where they did not realize they had let their attention wander from the crook himself until it was too late.

Taking advantage of their distraction, Torchwick pointed his cane just inches away from Blake's feet, and fired the gun that was hidden inside of it, causing Blake to lose her hold on him and be sent flying away. Hearing the explosion, Roxas spun around and quickly spotted where Blake had landed. He was just about to run over and help when the Dusks all snapped out of their stupor and rushed him, prompting him to start swinging his Keyblades in an effort to either drive them back, or parry their attacks. His efforts did not become any easier when the Snipers started firing energy bolts at him, putting him even further on the defensive as he ducked, dodged, and rolled in order to avoid the attacks, until ultimately, it became clear that he was not going to be getting anywhere near Blake so long as these guys had any say in the matter.

Blake probably would have tried to move closer to Roxas once she had gotten up again, but she had her own problems to deal with when Torchwick spun around and started firing on her. Luckily her reaction time was just as good as Roxas's was in this situation, and she managed to avoid every blast that the crook fired at her. Sure, it required the use of her Semblance at one point, but Blake honestly did not care that much. As long as she was not blown up, she was not going to complain. Although, considering how far apart she and Roxas were being pushed from one another, she probably should be complaining a little, but she had a few ideas on how to fix that, and it started by ducking into the shadows once again.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty," Torchwick mocked as he started to slowly pursue the cat girl, but his advancement was halted when a banana peel suddenly dropped on his head. Brushing it off and fixing his hat, Roman only had time to look up at the culprit behind the embarrassing attack before he was given an eyeful of foot, courtesy of Sun as he dropped into the fight.

Rolling along the ground after he had landed behind Torchwick, Sun easily popped back up again and glared at the crook as he said, "Leave her alone."

"Um, dude! I'm still here you know," Roxas shouted from his position, still taking fire from the Snipers as the airships opened up to allow more White Fang and Dusks to drop down and join the fight.

Thankfully, Roxas's backup came just as quickly as Blake's when a sudden blast of light rained down on the long-range Nobodies, signaling the arrival of Xion even before the girl had appeared at Roxas's side from where she had been hiding. "Give him a break, Roxas," Xion jokingly chastised as she came to stand alongside her boyfriend. "You can't blame a guy for prioritizing the girl he's clearly got a crush on over everything else, can you?"

"In this case, I'm pretty sure I can," Roxas retorted, but he still smiled in thanks to the girl all the same. Glancing around, Roxas saw that it seemed like the White Fang were focusing more on Sun for the moment, while the Nobodies were all directing their attention to him and Xion, prompting him to ask, "You sure you're up for this?"

"If I wasn't, I probably wouldn't have left Twilight Town," Xion confirmed, throwing her hand out to the side and summoning forth her Keyblade.

Looking to his girlfriend's Keyblade, Roxas could not help but smile in remembrance of how excited Xion was when she finally got it to transform into a Keyblade of her own without changing the Keychains on the end. He knew that Xion did not have too much of a problem using the copy of Sora's, but that did not stop her from wanting a Keyblade that was all her own, and this one definitely fit the bill, along with the two Keychains she normally used with it. Her main Keyblade in question was certainly more sword-like in its design as opposed to most Keyblades, which was made even more clear with how the teeth were comprised of two silver, triangular blades that overlapped each other and slanted downwards, while the rest of the blade contained various shades of silver and black in it, save for the handle, which was sea green. The only thing that made this blade even more perfect for Xion in his eyes was the name of blade in question as it reflected how she defied what others had deemed as her purpose in life and how her story would end: Rejection of Fate.

All thinking on Xion's Keyblade was put out of Roxas's mind when the Dusks began charging again, spinning and flying through the air in order to attack like they always did, but this time, he was ready for them. After all, bluff or not, he had told these Dusks that they would be destroyed if they did not obey his order, and now, he was going to have to follow through on that order. Not that it was hard for him to do so, considering how quickly he cut down three to four Dusks right before they could even touch him. The fight was only made easier with Xion's inclusion, as she managed to take out the Dusks that had somehow slipped past Roxas's notice, while at the same time blasting the Snipers that were still keeping their distance with a variety of light spells. Against the combined powers of Roxas and Xion, the various Nobodies stood little chance, and the same could be said for any White Fang soldiers that broke off from the attack on Sun to try their luck against the couple.

Speaking of Sun, he was having just about as easy of a time dealing with the White Fang as Roxas and Xion were dealing with the Nobodies. This was proven when he managed to knock down several with just some simple hand-to-hand combat skills, which he did with a quick laugh, but he did eventually draw his own weapon so that he could even the odds a little bit. Said weapon turned out to be a collapsible, red staff with gold inlay, and after striking down a few White Fang with some impressive spins of the staff, Sun eventually spun it around and struck the ground, creating a shockwave that disoriented several nearby White Fang soldiers long enough for him to kick them down and out.

Seeing his help go down so quickly and easily must have riled Torchwick up a little bit, because he was soon joining in on the fight again as he tried to blast Sun with his cane. Sun managed to block the blast with a spin of his staff, but before he could move to engage Torchwick, Blake finally reappeared before him and rushed towards the crook while shouting, "He's mine!"

This time, Blake was using the full range of her weapon, having drawn the sheath of her sword so that she would be fighting with two blades as opposed to one. While it was a little more problematic for him, Torchwick did show that he could keep up with Blake fairly well by blocking and parrying several her attacks while trying to hit back with his cane. Not that he really seemed to have much luck with the latter, considering that Blake was too fast and often used her Semblance to get away when he did manage to land a hit on her. Eventually though, Blake did end up slipping, and that granted Torchwick his chance to finally land a hit on the cat girl, along with several follow-ups that brought her to the ground. He probably would have finished Blake off right then and there had Roxas not jumped in just in time to match him.

Now, Roxas would normally have been able to handle a low-level crook like Torchwick easily, but since he was not sure whether or not it was okay for him to stop holding back, Roxas did find himself pulling more than a few punches as he engaged him. After all, aside from maintaining his cover as someone from another world, Roxas was not sure if Torchwick had any kind of special powers that would allow him to stand up to some of his more powerful attacks, or even knew how to manipulate Aura to the same extent as most huntsmen, so he had to stick with basic level stuff, while mixing in lower level special abilities and attacks as he went. That made things a little more evenly matched between him and Torchwick, right to the point where it all came down to who made the first error in the fight.

That ended up being Roxas, due to overextending himself on one strike, and Torchwick quickly capitalized on the opportunity to hit him back with everything he had until the blonde was forced back, right into Blake as she was starting to get up and attack again. Thankfully, Sun came to the rescue and began his own assault on Torchwick, splitting his staff into a pair of nunchaku. As he spun the weapons around, he soon revealed that they were not just nunchakus, because at several points, he aimed the tips of the blunt weapons at Torchwick, and fired off several blasts that sounded like shotgun rounds, and he eventually did so in rapid succession, making it hard for Torchwick to keep up.

A loud battle cry from the side was all the warning Torchwick had been he was suddenly knocked back by an attack from Xion, and the black haired girl quickly followed it up with a quick blast of ice that she hoped would freeze him in place. It did not work since Roman rolled away before the ice could hit him, but it did allow Xion to move in close and land a few more sword strikes of her own, followed up by Sun landing some more hits with his gunchucks, and then finally, giving Roxas and Blake a chance to land the finishing blows with a double dose of dual blade strikes.

Seeing Torchwick go flying from their combined assault, Xion could not help but think that they had all but won the fight, and she immediately turned to Sun and remarked, "Now those are cool weapons. A bo-staff, nunchakus, and a shotgun all rolled into one! I think I might be a little jealous if I didn't have the Keyblade."

"Hey, what can I say? I've got good tastes, as Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang can attest," Sun casually shrugged while shouldering his weapon in staff mode.

Roxas was about to admonish both of them for getting distracted before they were sure that the fight was over, but Torchwick ended up firing at a crane holding up a cargo crate before he could, severing the chain and dropping the heavy metal container when he did. "MOVE," Roxas shouted, prompting everyone to dive in any direction that they could so that they would not get flattened under the heavy, falling cargo.

The container hit the ground with a loud bang, but thankfully, none of them were hurt. That was likely about to change though when Roxas, Blake, and Xion all looked up to see Torchwick standing over Sun, holding the monkey Faunus at gunpoint. Just before they could start to rush to Sun's rescue, a familiar voice shouted, "HEY!"

Turning to where they heard the voice come from, Roxas and Xion could not help but grin while Blake stared in astonishment at the sight of Ruby Rose stepping into view while twirling Crescent Rose in her hands to show she was ready for a fight, with Sora right beside her, Keyblade in hand. "Who said you guys could throw a party without us," Sora continued on from what Ruby had said earlier.

While the four heroes were all glad to see that reinforcements had arrived for them at last, Torchwick was more annoyed at the sight of more kids coming in to ruin his business dealings. The only thing that he found more irritating was the fact that he recognized one of the most recent arrivals from a previous heist that had been foiled, but he managed to play it off with a bit of dry humor. "Oh, hello Red! Isn't it past your bedtime," Roman mocked as he waved to Ruby.

"Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing, Grandpa," Sora shot back, making Ruby snicker a little when Torchwick merely growled back.

All humor disappeared when Penny came up behind the two and asked, "Ruby, Sora, are these people your friends?"

"Penny, get back," Ruby ordered. She did not mind the strange girl following them around the city and helping them look for Roxas, Xion, and Blake, but this was definitely not the time and place for Penny's oddly overabundant curiosity.

Seeing Ruby distracted gave Torchwick an opening to do something he had been hoping to do ever since his last encounter with the little red reaper, and he did not hesitate to do it. Taking quick aim with his cane, Roman instantly fired a blast at the girl, one that likely would have hit and depleted Ruby of what little Aura she had left after using her Semblance to get here as quickly as possible for so long had it not been for a last minute intervention that he had not been expecting.

"RUBY, LOOK OUT," Sora shouted as he pushed Ruby out of the way, taking the blast in her place with a cry of pain much to everyone's shock.

When Ruby managed to right herself again, she immediately turned to where her friend was just now, and let out a gasp of horror at the sight of him on the ground in pain. "SORA," Ruby cried before she rushed over to him, leaving her scythe where she had landed so that she could reach him sooner. "Are you okay?"

Penny on the other hand could only stare at the two, mostly focusing on Sora, astonished that one of her friends had just been hurt so badly, but even more so over the fact that he had been due to taking an attack that was meant for Ruby. Looking at the two, Penny found herself wondering why he would do that until she ultimately concluded, _'He must care for Ruby just as much as she does for him. I know that Ruby implied that Sora cares for others a great deal, but I doubt someone would take a hit like that if they did not hold very significant feelings for the person.'_

Penny's innocent thoughts were interrupted when she heard Roman laughing over his accomplishment and then shout, "Why Red, I didn't know you had a boyfriend. And one that was gullible or stupid enough to take a hit for you at that!"

Ruby paid little mind to the criminal and how Penny's eyes had narrowed dangerously in response to his taunt, her attention more focused on Sora, as he struggled to sit up and retrieve a Hi-Potion from one of his pockets. She did breathe a sigh of relief though when the magical drink fixed his injury right up, and then asked once again, "Are you okay, Sora?"

"Yeah. That was nothing," Sora panted with a little faux boasting. "I've taken way worse hits than that before." He was about to summon Kingdom Key out again when he noticed Penny marching closer to where the main fight was. "Uh…Ruby?"

Turning to see what had Sora so worried, Ruby quickly stood up straight again in an effort to stop her friend, while shouting, "Penny, wait! Stop!"

"You're going to get hurt," Sora called out right after.

Penny did come to a stop, but only long enough so that she could spare Ruby and Sora a glance and say, "Don't worry Ruby and Sora." She then focused her gaze on the criminals and remaining Nobodies as she declared, "I'm combat ready!"

Sora was about to protest against that claim, until the pack on Penny's back suddenly opened up, and released several, foldable swords that then spread out behind the girl like a set of deadly wings. Leaping down from their current position, Penny sent several of the swords flying in the direction of the White Fang soldiers and several of the remaining Nobodies, taking them all out with little trouble even before she landed. A few quick waves of her hands, and Penny was able to send the swords flying in several different directions like a stream of water, knocking out White Fang left and right, while cutting apart a few Snipers and Dusks here and there as they went. She even spun the swords around in front of her in a circular formation so that she had a strong defense against the ones that tried to charge her before sending the ring of blades flying into a straight line of soldiers and knocked them down like bowling pins.

"Whoa," Sun gasped in awe.

"You can say that again," Xion agreed.

"Penny got game," Roxas praised as they continued to watch the girl tear apart the various enemies around them, and all with the same, pleasant smile on her face. That last detail made him cringe back a little as he added, "It's kind of creepy though."

"Considering that it's helping her to not only take out but pretty much dominate a small army all by herself, I'm not complaining too much," Xion admitted. At that point, she caught a bit of movement from the corner of her eye and turned to see the rest of the Nobodies were now moving to join in on the slugfest. "Doesn't mean we should leave her to do all the work, right," she then smirked.

Turning to see what Xion had, Roxas had to share that smirk with her as he said, "Like you even need to ask." He then turned to where Penny was fighting and shouted, "Penny, we'll handle the Nobodies…er, the silver creatures. Think you can handle the rest?"

"Like I said before, I'm combat ready," Penny confirmed while flinging one of her swords at a charging White Fang soldier.

Taking that as a yes, Roxas and Xion summoned their Keyblades again and charged the approaching Dusks and Snipers, ready to attack the minute they were in range. Seeing his friends going after the Nobodies while the odd girl continued to own the rest of the battlefield, Sun decided that now was the time for him and Blake to withdraw from the fight, and quickly pulled the cat Faunus out of the line of fire. Sure, Blake was not too happy about that, but considering that she did take a bit of damage and her Aura was likely really low by now, she was not going to protest, especially since three more airships suddenly flew in and began firing on everything below them.

Penny formed her defensive ring of blades again to deflect and block the shots from the airships, while sending another pair of swords out from her back and flying into the wall of the warehouse behind her. A minute later, something seemed to pull Penny back from where she was and over to the warehouse in question, confirming for Ruby and Sora that the swords were attached to very thin, nearly invisible wires, and then reformed her defensive ring into a number of guns that all began building up a charge of energy in the center of their ring. Once she felt that the charge was strong enough, Penny pulled back and thrust her fists forward, releasing the energy in two, powerful yet thin blasts that cut two of the approaching airships clean in half, making them drop into the water behind Ruby and Sora's current position.

Turning away from where the airships crashed down, Ruby and Sora were greeted to the sight of Penny snagging a last airship with her swords and then actually using the wires attached to them to pull them ship down. What was really astonishing was that it seemed like Penny was not even struggling to pull the aircraft down and Ruby could not help but wonder, "How is she doing that?"

"I don't know, but there's no way I'm going to let her and the others have all the fun," Sora replied with a grin. He then turned to Ruby and asked, "You with me?"

"Are you sure? You were just hurt a minute ago," Ruby cautioned.

"Positive," Sora reassured her. He then held his hand out to her and, channeling an old friend of his, he asked, "Do you trust me?"

Ruby looked between the battlefield and Sora's hand for all but a few seconds, before finally settling her gaze on his eyes. Seeing nothing but that same fire of confidence and determination that gave her a tingling sensation in her stomach while making her feel safe and reassured of everything working out for the best, Ruby could not help but smile as she gently grasped his offered hand and said, "Yes."

When he felt Ruby place her hand into his own, Sora had to ignore the odd feeling of warmth that seemed to spread from the joined hands and into the rest of his body. Right now, he needed to focus, and with the odd feelings from the action pushed aside, he let his grin widen a little more as he raised his Keyblade high and shouted, "Then hop on!"

"Hop on? Hop on whaaaAAAAAAHHHHHHAHAHA," Ruby managed to shout as suddenly, in a brilliant flash of colors and lights, a steam train that was covered in all kinds of lights suddenly appeared from behind them on a set of energy tracks, and Sora pulled them both aboard it and some of the cars that were coupled to it in one, mighty leap. What Ruby found even more amazing than this was that Sora seemed like he was able to actually direct the train on where to go, even though the energy tracks had not appeared in that direction yet. It was so amazing that Ruby could not help but laugh in excitement.

Apparently, Sora was not entirely expecting this particular ride, as he commented, "Mountain Coaster?! I wasn't even sure if I could still use this one."

His surprise was quickly shaken off though as he directed the glimmering train all over the docks, focusing most of its path on the area around the airship that Penny was holding in place. At the sound of the train's whistle, some of the other combatants could not help but turn and stare in awe at the sight of this strange railway train that looked like a roller coaster ride flying around the area, save for Roxas and Xion, who only made sure to avoid the blasts of fireworks that Sora was shooting from the train's smokestack while luring some of the remaining Nobodies into its line of fire. The only other person who had managed to shake off their shock was Roman, and he mainly did so in order to beat a hasty retreat to one of the remaining, intact airships, but that was of minor importance in everyone else's eyes.

Before he could turn the train around again for another run at the restrained airship, Sora looked back to Ruby and asked, "You want to give it a try?"

"Would I," Ruby shouted excitedly as she climbed into the front car with Sora.

A minute later, even more fireworks were flying in the air as Ruby fired off the Mountain Coaster's Chimney Flare, with a little guidance on how to do so from Sora, of course, and the airship was soon down to its last legs. Seeing that, Sora turned the train so that it was on a collision course for the airship, while grasping Ruby's hand and jumping off, all while leaving the Chimney Flare to bombard Penny's captive with more fireworks than ever before. When the train finally hit, a brilliant show of colors and explosions followed, and the airship had soon dropped faster than a brick.

Thankfully, Penny was able to extract her swords before she was pulled into the blast or the weapons themselves were destroyed as a side-effect, and she was soon sharing a victorious grin with Sora and Ruby as they cheered over the spectacle that they had just been a part of. Mostly in the case of Ruby, since that was the first time she had ever so much as seen Sora's Attraction Flow in action, and you could tell that she was still running high on the excitement from the way that she was hugging Sora like he had just given her the best present or news ever. They only stopped their mini-celebration when they heard some turbines powering up and turned to see the last airships taking off in full retreat, but by that point, they were all already out of range. Not that it mattered too much, because in their eyes, they had pulled out a win all the same.

As he flew away from the scene, Roman could only look back and mutter, "These kids just keep getting weirder."

* * *

A short time later, the police finally arrived in response to several calls that were regarding the whole incident that had just happened, and after giving a quick statement, while leaving out anything regarding other worldly powers, Blake's being a Faunus, and the Nobodies, the group of friends were all just sitting around off to the side, waiting for the okay to go on home. A rather tense silence had fallen over them though, mainly because Ruby had made a certain call just before the police had arrived, and now, they were just waiting for the moment when the people she had contacted showed up. They did not have to wait for very long, as Weiss and Yang soon appeared along with Ventus and Lea, and while it was a little amusing to see the tall redhead scolding his best friends like children for "running off on their own again", even if it was only in the form of playful teasing, everyone was much more focused on the white and black members of Team RWBY.

Seeing the hard, even stare that Weiss had on her face made Ruby instantly worried, and she quickly jumped up so that she could say something to calm the heiress down. "Look Weiss it's not what you think. She explained the whole thing. You see she doesn't actually wear a bow; she has kitty ears and their actually kinda cute," Ruby rapidly tried to explain all at once.

Weiss did not pay any mind to her partner, but instead, just marched right up to Blake and then quietly stared at the other girl for a few minutes. Not liking the silence for once, Blake decided she should take the initiative here and said, "Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with…"

"Stop," Weiss interrupted, sounding just as harsh as ever, and making everyone worry a little more. At least until she next spoke up. "Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you," she asked, only to answer before Blake could respond. "Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this, with a little extra encouragement from…" She paused to spare a fleeting glance in Lea's direction before finishing, "Certain people. And in that twelve hours, coupled with the advice of those people, I've decided…I don't care!"

That surprised everyone a little, but none more than Blake. "You don't care?"

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right," Weiss asked.

"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger…"

"Upupupupup! I don't want to hear it," Weiss interrupted once again. "All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up, you'll come to your teammates and your friends, and not some…" Judging by the way that Weiss glanced at Sun, it was easy to guess what she was about to say, but she quickly corrected herself. "Someone else."

Turning to look at the two sisters and the Keybearers that were all smiling happily at her, Blake finally realized that Roxas and Xion were right in what they said before. Everyone here really were true friends to her, and seeing that made clear before her eyes left Blake feeling so touched, she could not help but start to shed a few tears of joy. Not that she let them fall long enough for many people to register, as she quickly wiped them away, smiled back to Weiss, and promised, "Of course."

"Good," Weiss smiled in return. "But just know, even if you do try to run away, we'll always be there to bring you back."

Hearing that particular line made Roxas and Xion stare at Weiss for a minute. It was a little too familiar to something that someone else they knew had said, and when they turned to Lea for confirmation, the redhead only gave a silent smile and a shrug in return, confirming their suspicion was right. While the couple just smiled at their friend knowingly, Ruby could not help but let out a loud cheer at seeing all of her teammates gathered up and acting like real friends again. Not that anyone could fault her for feeling like this was worth celebrating. "Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!"

"Like there was ever any doubt about this reunion," Sora grinned happily.

Despite the happy atmosphere though, Weiss could not help but throw a cautionary look in Sun's direction and saying, "I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you."

The only thing Sun could do in reply was let out a nervous laugh while Blake gave him a curious eye, at least until Xion gave her own two cents on the matter. "Can't say I blame you. After all, you gotta make sure that Monkey-boy over there is going to do right by your little kitty cat," she teased.

"Xion!" Blake hissed as her face turned red along with Sun's.

"No, I think she's got a point. I mean, who knows what you two would get into if we didn't keep a careful eye on him at the very least," Roxas added in with his own teasing grin.

"You guys! That's not funny," Blake snapped as she turned on Roxas.

"And why am I the one being treated as the bad guy in these scenarios," Sun demanded.

"Relax, you guys. They're just messing with you," Sora reassured them both. "Hakuna Matata."

"Wait…what," nearly everyone other than Sora's fellow Keybearers asked.

"Hakuna Matata. It's something that some good friends taught me a while back that means no worries," Sora explained.

"You're not going to start singing the song that goes along with it, are you," Lea asked, sounding a little annoyed, but his smirk proved otherwise.

"No, of course not," Sora refused. "It's not like we have the music to go with the song, and besides, I have no intention of embarrassing myself so you guys can get a laugh."

Ruby was about to ask why Sora thought he would be embarrassing himself by singing a song for them, until she noticed that one person in their group was missing. "Hey, wait a minute," Ruby cut in before anyone could get further into this topic. "Where's Penny?"

Looking around, everyone saw that the odd girl had vanished from sight, but when one of the officers came by to say that someone from Beacon would be coming to get them from the station, they figured that it would be alright to leave the matter alone for now. From that officer's statement, it did seem pretty reasonable to assume that Penny's escort home had already picked her up, so unless they did not see or hear from her for a while, there was no reason to be concerned just yet. Besides, they all had a very exciting night, and they were ready to just go home and sleep.

* * *

As he was on his way to the station to pick up the students that were involved in the incident at the docks, Ozpin could not help but smile a little at the surveillance footage that was broadcasting an image of Ruby and Sora to his Scroll. The two certainly seemed like they were going to be magnets for trouble, but at the same time, they were proving to be quite the team time and again. That was obvious to Ozpin ever since initiation, but it only became more clear as time went on, and this most recent event truly showed that they were a combination that very few could match or stand up against. Not only that, but it also served as an indicator that his theories regarding the young Miss Rose may prove true yet, both those regarding the girl herself, and those regarding the help that she could provide for Sora in the coming near future. Ozpin's happy musings were cut short when he received a notification of an incoming message, and he immediately opened it up, already suspecting who the sender was most likely to be. He was not disappointed, as the screen immediately displayed the name of Ruby and Yang's uncle, Qrow in the sender portion of the message, but the message itself was certainly one that had him concerned.

_'Queen has pawns'_ Ozpin read to himself with an intrigued hum. _'This could be more worrisome than we originally thought. I just hope that Mister Hikari and his friends can finish their mission before she gets closer to making her move.'_

* * *

Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location that none of the heroes knew about, Roman Torchwick had finally managed to make it back to his hideout with what little Dust he had been able to get from tonight's heist, and needless to say, he was far from happy. He had a feeling the whole thing was going to go bad just from the fact that he had to work with the White Fang, never mind those weird creatures that he had just been introduced to, but he had not expected the insanity that he had just seen and dealt with. Before he could start griping about it out loud, a loud bang sounded from behind him, signaling the arrival of someone else even before his guest had spoken up.

"How very disappointing, Roman," a deceptively, silky smooth woman's voice sighed.

"WHOA," Roman gasped at the voice, but when he turned to face the speaker, he could not help but let out a slightly nervous chuckle upon seeing who it was. "Wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon."

"We were expecting more from you," commented the woman that had just spoken, stepping forward from the shadows just enough for him to be able to see her amber eyes, long dark hair, and the edges of her fashionable dark-red dress.

"Hey, you were the ones who suggested working with those stupid mutts from the White Fang, and who insisted on letting your new pal send out those silver things as extra help," Roman nervously reminded her.

That drew a quick snicker from the woman before she raised a hand and summoned forth a small fire from her palm as she answered, "And you will continue to work with the White Fang at the very least, along with whatever creatures our new friend decides to lend us. We have big plans for you, Roman. All we ask is a little cooperation."

"Shouldn't be too hard for you, now should it, Spaghetti-Bowl," another voice question, and a minute later, another figure stepped out from the shadows, revealing himself to be wearing a long, black coat with his hood up.

"Ah Luxu, glad to see you could make it," the woman welcomed with a smile.

Luxu could not help but chuckle a bit as he lowered his hood, allowing his face to be seen by everyone in all of its scarred, eye-patch wearing glory. "You have no idea how good it feels for people to be calling me that again, Cinder," Luxu informed the woman. "I mean, I don't mind 'Xigbar' too much, but there's a certain sense of nostalgia to my old name that just makes it so much better." He then looked over at Roman and said, "That said, from what I heard, a certain bunch of old buddies of mine were there tonight, and if some of those Guardians of Light are here, then there must be a reason."

"Do you think they suspect what we're doing, or what you might be doing," Cinder questioned.

"Anything's possible, but considering that Sora's here…it could be something else," Luxu reasoned. "Only time can tell…and I'm looking forward to watching as that little miracle kid falls short of the mark, regardless of whatever their reason for being here is."

* * *

Miles away from all of the drama and impending sense of doom that were slowly shadowing over Vale, on a farm in Mistral, a young boy was attending to someone lying in a bed, until a faint groan could be heard from the person in question, making him turn to face them. "Oh my god! You're awake," the boy exclaimed as he rushed over, seeing his patient struggling to sit up. "Easy Miss! You've been unconscious for a long time now. I was worried that we were going to end up having to call someone or try and get you to a hospital."

"What…Where am I," the girl in the bed asked as she slowly looked around her, until her gaze settled on the boy next to her bed. "Who're you?"

"My name's Oscar. Oscar Pine," the boy replied with a gentle smile. "You're in my aunt's farmhouse."

The girl nodded in response before she asked, "How did I get here?"

"If you mean into the bed, my aunt and I carried you in here after we found you unconscious in the barn," Oscar explained. "But if you mean here in general…well, I was hoping you could tell me."

"I…I don't know," the girl admitted before raising a hand to her forehead in an attempt to soothe the pain that suddenly shot through her skull as she tried to think back. "I can't…I can't remember anything."

"Nothing at all? About your home? Your family? Or maybe any friends," Oscar prompted, thinking that might help to stir up something so that he at least got a clue on who they could call about this strange girl.

"…No, nothing," the girl admitted. "I mean…I think it was…somewhere sunny or really bright…Maybe by a beach, or near a castle…Urgh! It doesn't make any sense!"

"Calm down, calm down! Maybe you just need a little time for it come back," Oscar stated as he attempted to soothe the girl again. He then smiled a bit and said, "Hey, if you're feeling up to it, I think my aunt has breakfast ready. You're more than welcome to join us, and I'm sure she'll be happy to see that you're finally up."

The offer of food drew out a loud growl from the girl's stomach, making her blush in embarrassment, but she could not help but laugh shyly along with Oscar afterwards. "I guess that's your answer," the girl joked.

"Okay then," Oscar nodded. He then helped the girl up out of the bed, but had to catch her when she almost fell over, since her legs had grown weak from the lack of use. "Just take it one step at a time, Miss…" Now it was Oscar's turn to be embarrassed, as he realized he had forgotten a very important detail. "Sorry. I haven't even asked you for your name yet. Do you remember that?"

The girl scrunched her face up in thought for a minute, trying to reach for that particular memory, until finally, she turned to face Oscar again, her bright violet-blue eyes peeking out from beneath her dark red hair as she answered. "It's…Kairi. My name is Kairi."

* * *

_**AN: Oh! Oh! Look at that! Didn't see that coming, did we? No really, did any of you see that bit at the end there coming? Namely the thing with Cinder and Luxu working with Roman or how Kairi is with our favorite farmboy turned host for an immortal wizard/warrior's soul. And just to be clear, yeah, Kairi has amnesia, and has forgotten about her past again, and yes, that is the reason why Yen Sid is so unsure as to whether or not Kairi is on Remnant for sure. Kinda hard to bring out your full power when you don't even remember that you have that power.**_

_**Moving right along, let's talk about Xion's Keyblade. Yes, I know its not the same one I had her using in the Keyblades Unleashed Series, but I've taken a long time to look over all the Keyblades that she and Roxas had in 358/2 Days, and I would like to think that Rejection of Fate might be a good final evolution of Xion's Keyblade. As far as her other Keychains go, I will now confirm that she also has Two Become One and True Light's Flight as well. Any others are undecided at this time, much like in the case of most of Roxas and Ven's other Keyblades. Also, Xion is in fact rocking her Post-KH3 attire, because seriously, that is a sweet look. I really hope we see her sporting that outfit for a long time to come, because frankly, she's been having to wear that stupid Organization coat for way too long now. The only addition I gave her look was that she now has a Gummiwatch like the rest of the guys, which if you'll all recall, was introduced last chapter, and now, we've got a little more info about them.**_

_**Speaking of things that build off from last chapter, hope you guys don't mind that little bit at the beginning, but I just had to at least mention that Sora and the others took the girls to Disney Town. I was originally planning on going into full detail about that visit, either at the end of the last chapter or the start of this one, but it just seemed like unnecessary filler that made both chapters longer than they already were.**_

_**Hey, and while we're talking new developments, looks like Ruby wasn't the only one given a sense of deja vu when they all met Penny. Weiss was given her own helping of it when she met Xion. Yeah, I just had to include that in there, because I felt that it could have a bit of a benefit for Weiss in the long run if she got a sense of how it was like for Ruby when they first met.**_

_**That being said, we've now gotten Roxas and Xion's history with the Organization out there...more or less, and it looks like everyone who now knows about it is still cool with the two, and can you blame them? Who wouldn't be cool with Xion?**_

_**Roxas: Ahem. You mean Xion and Roxas, right?**_

_**AN: I know what I said. Now then, aside from additional dialogue that was introduced by Team SLVR and Xion's inclusion on the events of today's chapter, I guess the only things worth mentioning would have to be the fact that we finally got Torchwick into the story, along with the White Fang, and of course, Sun's out with his guns out! And yeah, I totally got that line from that one episode of RWBY Chibi.**_

_**And oh yeah, Penny's here too, she's now friends with both Ruby and Sora (like that's a surprise), and she's combat ready! Nuff said. If any of you guys feel like crying because it reminds you of what happened to her in the canon story of RWBY now, go ahead. I won't judge.**_

_**Sora: Neither will any of the rest of us.**_

_**AN: And finally, we got to see Attraction Flow in action again! And not only that, but it's also one that we only ever saw once in Kingdom Hearts 3. It always kinda bugged me that we were only able to use the Mountain Coaster Attraction Flow for that one boss fight, so I just had to bring it back for this little face-off. Besides, it also opened up the door for a bit more RoseHeart goodness, one that kind of mirrors a certain moment from Aladdin, as you probably noticed, if I might add, so there was that too.**_

_**Now then, I'm thinking that next chapter might end up being a bit shorter than this one, but then again, what do you expect when you combine two big episodes of RWBY like I did with the last two from Volume 1 here. Then again, there is a chance I may yet combine the first episode of Volume 2 with at least the first half of the second episode, but we'll just have to wait and see on all of that, now won't we? And that's without mentioning that there is a chance we could see some other more original content in the next chapter as well, but let's not let our imaginations get away from us just yet. We've got something else that can fuel it for us. A little something called moving Onto the Preview!...**_

_**While things pass by calmly for our heroes, dark forces are beginning to come into play from the shadows. Not that it's going to stop RWBY, JNPR, or SLVR from making the most of their last free day before the second semester classes start up. After all the excitement of traveling to other worlds, fighting Heartless, Grimm, and Nobodies, and not to mention all the other crazy things that have happened to them lately, these kids do deserve a chance to be kids, and it all starts with one of the oldest, longest standing events that is common in any school, no matter what they may be teaching: a food fight! That's right; the food will fly as a starting point for the best day ever, next time.**_

_**Ruby: So...are we going to let Yang out of that bunker now?**_

_**AN: Is she cool yet?**_

_**Blake: [looking at the security feed to see Yang getting sprayed again after activating her Semblance, making her activate it even more while increasing the amount of suppressant being shot at her] Yeah...No, no she's not.**_

_**AN: Then no way! I'm not letting her out of there just so she can pulverize me! It was bad enough after the hair thing and the closet. And as for you my dear audience...**_

_**Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy.**_


	9. Best Day Ever

**_AN: I feel like we should be having "Time to Say Goodbye" playing right now, because guess what we're diving into today. Come on guess._**

**_Sora: Would it be an explanation as to how we finally reunite with Kairi?_**

**_AN: Was that a serious question? I honestly can't tell with you right now._**

**_Jaune: How about something that shows just how awesome Team JNPR is?_**

**_AN: That's...actually not too far off, but not quite what we're aiming for._**

**_Ruby: Oh! An early birthday celebration for a certain someone? [winks knowingly at everyone]_**

**_AN: Sorry Ruby, but no. Not to worry though, I will be doing my utmost to make sure that I have something ready for one of the RWBY stories by Halloween, be it an update to this story or the next meeting in RWBY Meetings. However, today, we are diving into Volume 2 of RWBY with the newest chapter of Remnant of the Key!_**

**_[audience applause]_**

**_AN: Yeah, you know it's pretty exciting, but before we do much more, let's get those review answers out there, shall we?_**

**_First off, "SuperSayainFever", to answer your question about how copying memories from the heart and reloading them into the brain, you'd have to ask Naminéabout that. She's the memory sorceress after all. Also, if we do visit Neverland, I don't think that they'll be going to Pixie Hollow. That would be something I'm going to probably run with in another story. As for your suggestion about using a rage-absorber to calm Yang down, we actually tried that. [waves to the side so that camera pans around to show a utterly totaled device labeled Rage-Absorber, Only to be Used on Very Angry Characters] Yeah, that's what happened after it got a fraction of Yang's anger into it. Cheap piece of junk. [kicks device away, and eliciting a crashing sound from off-stage]_**

**_Now then, "Dragon Rider 66", yes indeed, you were right in guessing where Kairi was going to end up being. Give yourself another pat on the back while we give you a round of applause for guessing correctly, bud._**

**_[audience applause]_**

**_Anywho, I'm not really sure we'll see all that much more of Oscar and Kairi in this particular story at the moment. At the moment, the earliest we should expect to see them again would be in the sequel, which will simply be titled "Remnant of the Key Vol 2". Yeah, I'm not going to any extremes and keeping it simple with the titles this time around with this particular series. Back on topic though, maybe if I can find a way to work in something with Kairi and Oscar without it seeming like a filler chapter or something, or like it just comes off as being out-of-place or filler content, I might just do that. Only time will tell, but I will go ahead and say that if I do decide to do something like that, it probably won't be until we reach the Vytal Festival Arc of RWBY Volume 3. By the way, I honestly never made that connection about the moment between Weiss and Lea last chapter to that scene between Spidey and Tony in Spider-Man: Homecoming. I just thought it would have more of an impact on Weiss if it was coming from Lea, but now that I'm looking back at it, I can see the similarities. As for Xigbar aka Luxu, you'll start getting a little bit of an idea on at least part of his reasons for being here, or really just what he's doing now, today near the end of the chapter. _**

**_"Guest" of 10/1/2019, I guess this answers your question, doesn't it?_**

**_Moving on, "Spiderfan626", since when do the bad guys not underestimate Sora? I mean, even Xehanort and some of his other selves from across time did the same thing in Kingdom Hearts 3. Too bad it looks like this time, they may be justified in doing so, given what's being planned for Vale. And yeah, I do plan to try and include a bit more of Zwei in this series, at least for as long as the opportunity presents itself._**

**_Ruby: YAAAAAAY!_**

**_AN: [chuckles amusedly] Oh, and sorry to say but, Sun and Neptune are not very likely to be traveling to any other worlds at the moment, or at least I don't plan on them doing so. Sora and the guys already got into enough trouble as it is for letting RWBY and JNPR in on the secret, imagine what might happen if they tell anyone else on Remnant who doesn't already know. As for your suggestion on asking either Professor X or Martian Manhunter to wipe Yang's memory so that I can finally escape her wrath...[pauses to check and see if Yang's around or if anyone would be likely to tell her, besides Ruby is present before whispering] I actually hadn't considered that, but with RWBY now kinda-sorta part of the DC Universe in a way (You know, since they now have a comic with DC Comics or whatever), I may just start thinking about it. Assuming she hasn't cooled off by now._**

**_Blake: [looks to the camera that's viewing the bunker that Yang was locked in last chapter, and sees Yang still in there, getting hosed by the fire suppressant] Yeah, I think you probably should consider it at this rate. By the way, "Spiderfan626", maybe Sora and the others have encountered pure evil, but keep in mind, this is still early on in the series, and before I learned about Salem, and even she can't really be considered pure evil when you take into account how she started out, but yeah, I will admit, that I may have been living in a fantasy world thinking that pure evil didn't exist back then._**

**_AN: Well, at least you're willing to admit that now. Now, next to answer is "CT7567Rules", I'm not really planning on going too far into the background of the White Fang characters, be it the current high leader or Blake's ex. In the case of the latter, what more do you really need to know other than the fact that he's basically like a Faunus version of Magneto at the master of magnetism's worst? And really, Siena Khan was barely around for very long to really give me much to work with, and there's not really many places that I could work such things into the story without it being filler. As for how I'm able to write such long chapters...I don't know._**

**_Weiss: What do you mean, you don't know?_**

**_AN: Exactly that: I don't know. I don't really think about the length of a chapter all that much, at least not beyond whether or not its starting to drag on in one regard or another. I just think about what I want to happen in the chapter, and then put the figurative pen to paper so I can write it all out. Anything beyond that just happens naturally for me._**

**_Next on the list of reviews to answer, "keybladelight", sorry but Xehanort will not be returning here, as a spirit or otherwise. KH3 was the end of the Xehanort saga, and this story takes place Post-KH3, so I want to avoid Xehanort showing up here in any way that is not a story to reference the past adventures of Sora and his pals._**

**_"Monkey D. Conan", if you ask me, Penny's always had a heart. I could reference how Pinocchio did too when Sora met him in the first game, but that would just be driving the fact he was a source of inspiration for Penny home a little too much. Either way, how can you really look back at all those times Penny was around and think that she didn't have a heart and soul, like Ruby said she did in that one episode of Volume 2? But yeah, that will be brought up all the same. Regarding details about Yang and Lea's date...well, all I'm really going to say there is a few illusions to what they do on those outings, but we may or may not actually see them in the midst of a date later on during a future chapter, and I don't just mean when the dance comes around, either. The others won't be finding out about Luxu for a long time to come, and the return of Kairi's memories will be a very slow process, even after the moment when she first sees Sora. That's all I can really say about that right now without giving away spoilers._**

**_"Anonymaton", seriously, no mallets! I don't have a death wish!...But thanks for the offer all the same. I'll get back to you if anything changes in that regard. As for whatever it is your talking about regarding things that could get ugly, if you're referring to the moment when Ruby and Kairi finally meet, it might not be as bad as you're probably thinking...At first...Maybe...You know what? You'll just have to wait and see on that._**

**_Ruby: Oh, and finally, to the "Guest" of 10/8/2019, yeah...We barely understood all that much of what Donald was saying when he went off on Sora that time._**

**_Yang: [over a microphone that was dropped into the bunker just for this] To put it mildly._**

**_Blake: I only got about every other word of it._**

_**Weiss: It was all completely unintelligible garbage to me.**_

_**Donald: I'LL SHOW YOU UNINTELLIGIBLE! [suddenly bursts into the room to begin chasing after Weiss, who runs away in fright]**_

_**AN: What the?! Who let him in here?! He's not supposed to be here right now! He's not a main focus character for this story! Ugh, great, now I gotta deal with this, so I'll just let you guys move onward with the main story. Pull the lever, Jaune!**_

_**Jaune: [rushes to the manual controls and pulls the lever] Uh, this was the right lever, right?**_

_**Blake: [opens her mouth to answer before her ears suddenly twitch] Uh, what's that noise? [turns to see a horde of dogs running into the room] YIKES! [runs out before anyone can even blink]**_

_**AN: Does that answer your question, Jaune?**_

_**Jaune: Yes it does. Sorry Blake! [Pulls the right lever]**_

_**AN: [sighs] Okay, I've gotta go help Weiss with Donald and call off the security dogs before Blake is chased up a tree or something, no pun intended...Okay maybe a little bit. Enjoy the story everyone.**_

**_I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story._**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Best Day Ever**

Aside from some brief conversations with Ozpin at the Vale police station, things passed by rather peacefully and smoothly for the Beacon students, Keyblade wielders included. None of them had any more trouble with Cardin and his crew, or any other bullies really, none of them were getting mixed up in anymore criminal undertakings or White Fang attacks like the one at the docks, both the Heartless and Nobodies seemed to have decided to leave Remnant alone for a while, or at least the part of Remnant that the Keyblade wielders were currently occupying as a home away from home, and classes at Beacon passed by as they would for any other huntsmen-in-training that attended the school. It actually made that first portion of their semester seem like it would be the most exciting part of their time at Beacon, but considering that it allowed everyone to study up for any end-of-semester assignments and/or tests that they had, no one was complaining very much.

That did not mean that there were no concerns at all, and the first of those concerned Penny. For all intents and purposes, the girl seemed to have simply vanished off the face of Remnant, and it left Ruby a little worried for her. She was sure that Penny had gotten home safely, but after not seeing her anywhere for all that time, even among the other students that were coming to Beacon for the Vytal Festival, anyone would be concerned. Another thing to note was that some of them were worried about how some of the teachers would react if they found out about Blake, but the cat girl had assured everyone that the most any of the professors knew was that she was hiding the fact she was a Faunus. Some of them were a bit skeptical of her belief, but they kept quiet and thanked their lucky stars that Blake was being allowed to remain at Beacon all the same.

One could also argue that Xion's decision to make her stay on Remnant an extended one a slight problem as well, since she could not enroll into Beacon by herself, but the girl believed otherwise. Despite how great an opportunity it would prove to be, Xion had decided not to enroll at Beacon with the rest of her other worldly friends, and instead just claimed she was a visiting student from another academy. If anyone asked whether or not the rest of her team was going to be coming as well, she would simply say that it remained to be seen due to her teammates not being very open to traveling between kingdoms. It seemed like a reasonable excuse to some, while others would say that it was a little half-baked at best. Either way, it did seem like it was convincing everyone who was not in the know about the origins of the Keyblade wielders, and that was all that really mattered for now.

The only other thing that could really be considered concerning at the moment, was actually a matter regarding the leader of Team SLVR. After what happened at the docks, Sora had become more determined than ever to try and find Kairi, and it was not like anyone could blame him since there now seemed to be Heartless and Nobodies roaming about on Remnant. Even so, the others would have been blind to not notice just how much of his attention Sora was putting into his efforts, or how he grew more and more irritable with each day that passed without any positive results to speak of. If they had been worried about walking on eggshells around Sora when it came to matters involving the missing Princess of Heart before, then it was definitely starting to become a major concern now, because even bringing up the topic in a vague sense or doing something that would suggest that they were not as serious about the search as him had a tendency to set Sora off on the rest of Team SLVR. The only saving grace was that he was not letting it consume him to the point where he stopped doing anything else just so he could continue searching, but given how little success they had in finding any leads, the rest of the guys had to wonder just how much longer it would be until he did hit that point. Worse than that was how the news Aqua had given them in Twilight Town kept ringing in their heads every time they failed to find something by the end of a day. More and more, it seemed like Sora learning about that would be the thing that would finally make him fall to that point, and none of the other Keyblade wielders were too willing to take the risk.

Somehow, they all made it through the remainder of the semester without Sora taking that dive into the deep end, and everyone found themselves enjoying a relaxing two weeks off from classes. Of course, some of them had a very different idea of relaxing from others. Take Weiss and Ventus for example: the two of them would often be found reviewing their notes from last semester together in the library before heading off somewhere private so that Ven could help Weiss practice with her glyphs a little more. Sure, it may have seemed like more work for some, but for those two, it was very enjoyable. If you were to ask Yang and Lea though, they would tell you that they were just using all of that as an excuse to spend time around each other, and given the way that both the Schnee heiress and the wielder of Wayward Wind would blush when it was brought up, they were likely not that far off.

Speaking of the fiery duo, Yang and Lea's one date eventually became several over the course of the two weeks, and needless to say, everyone always joked that it was miracle that nothing in Vale was set on fire when they came back from those dates. All jokes aside, the two did actually do quite a few things that did not normally involve fights or fires, like just grabbing lunch at a local hotspot in Vale as opposed to Beacon's cafeteria, or even just cruising around on Yang's motorcycle. Yang was honestly impressed that her driving style had not scared Lea off yet like it had a few other boys she had at least flirted with in the past, and given how much fun she had around the redhead, she was starting to think that things were starting to progress past the point of being just simply dating for the fun of it. She shook that notion off just as quickly as it came most of the time, but no one failed to notice how she would sometimes sneak a few lingering looks in Lea's direction, or how her cheeks tended to go red when he caught her and shot a sly smirk and wink back to her.

Some of the little group of friends did end up changing things around a little from their routine at this point, but none more noticeably than Blake. It seemed that finally letting out the truth about some of her past to the others had really helped her to start breaking out of her shell more, and help her to just relax like any other teenager her age. That was not to say that she was not still pretty closed-off and quiet, but she did make sure her voice was heard a little more often now, at least around her teammates and close friends. The latter of those two was only most noticeable with Roxas, Xion, and Sun, given the bond that they had all forged during that one weekend that led to her revealing a little of her past, but Yang liked to say that she was getting a little bit more out of Blake now too since they were partners. Still, Blake spent a good deal of time looking over old drawings she had sketched of a particular individual and notes she had made about the White Fang as she knew them in the past, attempting to figure out what caused things to change the way they had since she had been gone.

As for Sora, he tended to spend most of his time either practicing with his various Keyblade abilities or searching for clues about Kairi. Not like any of that was a surprise, given how his attitude was starting to take another slow decline, so everyone on Team SLVR was becoming more and more sure that Sora would have spent every waking moment doing one or both of those things if they did not have classes to worry about. The only time that he ever took any breaks from either of those things was when Ruby was around to convince him too. It was a little startling just how much pull the girl had on the wielder of Kingdom Key, but so long as she was able to bring out the old Sora, none of the guys were complaining. Ruby on the other hand, found it both easier and harder to be around Sora after that night at the docks. The memory of him risking his life to save her the way he did always seemed to make her heartbeat speed up, both out of worry for him and because it had seemed like something straight out of some of the stories that Yang used to read to her as a kid.

More than that, the moment from just before he used his Attraction Flow to end the fight also kept flashing into her mind's eye and she could not help but smile every time it did. The sheer emotion and confidence that she saw in his eyes at that moment had not stopped giving her butterflies, and every time he smiled at her afterwards, she felt like it was right to the point where she would just lift off the ground and float away. Ruby had figured that spending more time around Sora would help her to ensure she did not make a fool out of herself around him, or that she would turn into some love struck dummy, and while it did have that effect to an extent, it was not to the point where she was completely able to remain in control of herself without some conscious effort on her part. Still, there was no denying that Ruby and Sora definitely had fun whenever they hung out together, and that was all the more reason why the rest of Team RWBY had felt justified in joining into Lea's betting pool on how long it would be before the two ended up together. They found it odd that Ven and Roxas had not changed their bets even after all this time, but whenever they went to question the boys on it, they would always say that it was not their place to say before warning the girls to not ask Sora about it, and they got the sense that it was not just out of concern of how Sora would react if he found out about the pool.

Not all of their two weeks off was without incident of course, because since Team SLVR was not being kept busy with classes at the time, the rest of their fellow Keyblade wielders felt it was the perfect time for the boys to lend a bit more of a hand out in the other worlds. Sora had tried to protest against this, saying that they needed to stay and focus on finding Kairi, but when they all reminded him of his promise to lend a hand if they needed him and the others too, his resistance quickly crumbled. Having Xion come in to say that she would keep looking while they were gone was a big help too, but thankfully, they made it through most of the two week break without very many incidents that required aid from Team SLVR. In fact, the boys were only summoned to action by the others one time, and that time was today, on the world that was home to the former Princess of Heart, Cinderella.

Lea had to question just how lucky they were to be brought in on this action though, as he ended up being thrown back into some surrounding trees for the third time since they tracked down and engaged their target in battle. Pulling himself up again, he glared at their current target and snarled, "I'm getting really sick of being thrown around like a ragdoll by something that I should. Be able. To easily. BURN. TO CINDERS!"

"Less ranting, more fire power, buddy," Roxas shouted as he dashed past his friend, casting a quick cure spell over in Lea's direction along the way.

"I'm still trying to figure out why it looks so much like that one Unversed that Aqua told me she fought when she first came to this world," Ventus admitted as he leaped around the spinning, spiked vines that the plant-like Heartless was swinging at him like a pair of whips.

Indeed, the Heartless they were facing did look a lot like the Cursed Coach Unversed that Aqua had defeated many years prior, save for the fact that it had a dark violet coloration to its pumpkin-like body, sickly green vines for its wheels and tentacles, its eyes now formed a more, angrily vengeful expression as opposed to the original sorrowful one, and instead of an Unversed symbol, it bore that of the Heartless. If Ventus did not know better, he would say that someone had actually created this Heartless using the design of the Cursed Coach Unversed as inspiration. Such matters were of little importance though, because right now, they needed to worry about breaking this nasty jack-o'-lantern into pieces, and he intended to do just that as he aimed his Keyblade, which was currently equipped with his Lost Memory Keychain, and fired off a powerful blast of wind magic to blow away the explosive pumpkins that were being spewed out at them from the mouth of this Calamity Carriage, as they had taken to calling it.

Deciding to use Ven's recent bit of wind magic as an extra booster, Lea did not hesitate to fire a strong blast of flames into the tornado with Flame Liberator, and that certainly seemed to add an extra amount of burn into the attack, but it only really left the Calamity Carriage disoriented for a moment. Not that Sora and Roxas needed much more time than that to move in and slash at it as many times as they could, Roxas using his usual two Keyblades while Sora wielded Hero's Origin. Right when it recovered, Sora had quickly transformed his blade into Counter Shield and managed to block the worst of the Carriage's attacks from hitting him or Roxas. The two were still pushed back a pretty decent ways, but that was of little consequence to them at the moment.

Sending out a few more fire blasts to discourage the Calamity Carriage from getting closer, Lea eventually made his way over to the rest of his friends and asked, "So, not that I really need that much of a reason to beat down on some Heartless, but remind me again why we're here, or even why this Heartless is causing so much trouble?"

"First off, because we were apparently the only ones that were readily available when Ansem the Wise's scanner picked up on a huge spike in dark energy readings on this world," Sora grumbled in reply as he tossed Counter Shield at the Carriage, hitting it with several lightning-infused blasts when it spun through and around the Heartless boss before returning to his hand again.

"And secondly, it's a bit of a weird story," Ventus cut in before Sora could let his anger start controlling him in this fight. "Apparently Cinderella's stepmother, Lady Tremaine somehow got her hands on Fairy Godmother's wand and used it to try and rewrite history so that Cinderella never got to try on the glass slipper or something, and this Heartless was created to ensure that no one like Aqua could interfere or change things back."

"But wasn't Aqua here the first time to help ensure that would happen," Lea asked, remembering that particular story from one of their past conversations about the whole incident with the Unversed.

"Like I said, a magic wand was involved, which means that weird magic was involved," Ventus reminded him.

"And how is it even possible for some random, normal person to _use_ Fairy Godmother's wand? Isn't there some kind of rule that keeps anyone other than her from using it," Roxas asked as he rolled to one side in order to avoid another swing of the vine-like tentacles.

"Plus, I thought that most of her powers were more in the magic words she always says," Sora pointed out as he mirrored Roxas's actions, while using Counter Shield to deflect more blasts, until he finally unleashed a powerful energy fist right into the center of the Calamity Carriage as a counterstrike, making it stop shooting pumpkin bombs at them and cease swinging at Roxas and Lea.

"Look, I don't know, okay?! Aqua's the magic expert, not me! And besides, Sora, you've got even more experience around various types of magic than the rest of us. Why don't you have any guesses," Ventus snapped in response, honestly baffled as to why it seemed like they all thought he had these answers.

Sora was about to reply when he suddenly had to jump away from a sneak attack that came from one of the various plant-type Heartless that the Calamity Carriage kept calling to its aid. Sighing in frustration, Sora just said, "Let's just deal with this thing, make sure that everything gets fixed for Cinderella, and go back to Beacon already."

"That'd probably be easier if our backup would do their jobs in keeping these other Heartless off our back," Lea shouted as he cut through some vines that a few Creeper Plants tried to slice him up with, and it was clear that he was not directing his comment at Sora, but to the people he was referring to as their backup for this mission.

"I'm sorry," a familiar voice shouted before several rounds of Fire Dust were shot through the Creeper Plant that was attacking Lea. A moment later, Pyrrha vaulted over a line of Chief Puffs and Puffballs before she began cutting them down with her weapon, Miló in its sword form right alongside Jaune, giving him a break from having to mostly deflect attacks with his shield. Shortly thereafter, Ren spun in, firing Stormflower at the various Creeper Plants that were giving many of his friends trouble. When several Puffballs began to come together on top of a Chief Puff, they were all quickly knocked down by Nora's hammer before she changed Magnhild into its grenade launcher form and started firing several blasts into anything that had a Heartless emblem on it.

When Mickey had called them with this request for help, he had said that they could bring along some of their friends from Remnant as backup, and when she heard that, Nora immediately volunteered Team JNPR for the job faster than she could say "Gimme some pancakes" when she was hungry. The guys had not been quite as eager to let Team JNPR join them, and Team RWBY was not too happy about the fact that Nora had beaten them to the punch in volunteering, but Nora was quite adamant that they be allowed to go this time, even if the only valid part of her argument (and the only part that they could actually understand with how fast she eventually started talking) was that her team had not gotten to go to another world yet, while Team RWBY had visited two, even if the first one was mainly by accident. In the end, the guys were broken down into letting Nora's team come when she promised that she would not ask them any more weird questions unless it was absolutely necessary.

As it turned out, Team JNPR did pretty well in taking directions on how to handle things on another world. They made sure to stay out of sight and let Sora's team do the talking when addressing most of the locals, kept most of the collateral damage to a minimum when they encountered the small fry Heartless in the town, and Jaune even came up with plenty of battle strategies that they were able to use to get rid of the Heartless faster right on the spot. The only thing more impressive than the ideas that Jaune thought up was how well each of those ideas allowed the two teams to combine their strengths. Not that it was too surprising in some cases, namely that of Lea and Nora's, but even without knowing the full extent of what they were all capable of, Jaune still somehow managed to come up with moves that they could execute without any trouble. At the moment though, they all agreed that they needed one of those ideas for beating the Calamity Carriage more than anything.

Luckily, Jaune was able to come up with one for that too, but not until Pyrrha finally managed to get to his position and give him some breathing room to think. "Sora, do you have Shooting Star equipped right now," Jaune asked.

"No, but I've got Hunny Spout, and that has Formchanges that are pretty much the same," Sora replied.

Though a little thrown off by the name that Sora mentioned, Jaune was able to quickly cast it aside so that he could relay what he had in mind. "Okay, you and Ren do what you can to distract it while blasting the pumpkin bombs it fires," Jaune ordered. "Pyrrha, Roxas, you get in close to hit it as much as you can, but you're priority is to pin down the vines its using as tentacles. Ven, you and I will deal with anymore Heartless that it calls for help."

"And I'm guessing that means Nora and I will be the ones that deliver the finishing blow, right," Lea questioned.

"By all means," Jaune confirmed with a smirk.

Nora and Lea wore nearly identical grins after hearing that, and simply replied, "Got it."

Roxas and Ren both let out tired sighs at their respective best friend's excitement over inflicting knockout blows, and could not help but simultaneously mutter, "Why did I let those two become friends?"

The woes that the excitable pair caused their best friends aside, the two teams swiftly executed Jaune's plan without any trouble. The next time that it launched into the air to try and unleash a bombardment of pumpkin bombs, Sora had already switched over to Hunny Spout and converted it into Hunny Blasters so that he could knock out the explosive attack with several delicious rounds of honey alongside of Ren's regular Dust rounds. When the bombardment finally stopped, Sora quickly transformed his weapon into Hunny Launcher, and fired one last, powerful blast that not only knocked the Calamity Carriage out of the air, but also left it really sticky, making things easier for Pyrrha and Roxas to attack it and ensure that its tentacles were pinned down. Wanting to make sure that Ren and Sora immediately rushed in to slice away a few more shreds of the Calamity Carriage's strength, and once they had destroyed the last of the backup Heartless, Jaune and Ven joined in on those efforts as well before assisting Pyrrha and Roxas in pinning the vines even more than they already were.

"Sora, juice Nora up," Jaune called out, wanting to be absolutely sure that his team's powerhouse would have all the energy needed to take this thing down.

Nodding only once, Sora immediately raised his Keyblade high and called down a powerful blast of lightning magic onto Nora. Normally he would not do this, but since he knew that Nora's Semblance allowed her to absorb electricity and get stronger, all reservations were rendered null and void. With Sora's spell boosting her strength, Nora's grin only became more savage, so when she charged in with Magnhild ready for a final strike, no one could be blamed for thinking that the frozen expression on the Calamity Carriage's face had actually changed into a panicked one at the sight.

The others all waited until the absolute last second to pull away from their positions, and were all glad that they had managed to do so before Nora had hit, because they were sure that if any of them were still attached to the Calamity Carriage when the hyper, ginger haired girl attacked, they would have been sent rocketing right along with the Heartless. Its flight only seemed likely to go on for longer when Lea's next fire blast lit it up like a rocket, and made it become little more than a shooting star in the night sky to anyone that saw it at that point. Even without the feed from the scanners on the stealth gummi ship being viewable on the Gummiwatches, the guys all knew that it would have taken a very insane, freak miracle for the thing to have survived that last attack, but they still checked just to be safe anyways. You could never be too careful after all.

Once they had confirmed that the Calamity Carriage was toast, Nora and Lea exchanged a victory high-five while Ren and Ventus merely nodded with satisfied smiles. Roxas could not help but smirk at the proud glances that Pyrrha and Jaune exchanged with each other, having detected a little extra something in the invincible girl's gaze when she had looked to her partner, but his smirk fell when he heard Sora dismissing his Keyblade and turn to start marching away.

"Come on. Let's go check to make sure that Cinderella's got everything else here covered and head back," Sora called out, sounding like a certain Imperial army captain he knew back when he first met said captain when he did.

"Aw come on! Can't we just hang around a little longer? I wanna see if there'll be a big victory party when Cinderella and the prince take down ol' Stepmuddy," Nora pleaded, happily using Jaq's way of pronouncing the word stepmother as an actual name for Lady Tremaine. She had been doing so ever since they ran into the little mouse, and she had not heard one word of disapproval yet.

"Its not like it would hurt to at least let our friends know that we were heading out," Ventus tried to reason, but Sora was not going to hear it.

"We've already been gone from Remnant for longer than we need to be, and it'll take a couple of days at most to get back even with the warp gummi. In case you guys forgot, classes start up again in a few days, so the sooner we leave, the better," Sora disputed.

"You make it sound like just saying goodbye is going to be a huge pain," Jaune could not help but innocently note.

The air around them somehow suddenly became much chillier when Sora next spoke, but it was not due to a sudden bout of anger. If anything, there was more sorrow than anything else. "Maybe because saying goodbye can be painful. Especially for the people that you're leaving, or who end up leaving you."

Sora did not say anything else after that. He just simply marched away to a place where he could safely teleport back to the ship without anyone noticing while the others watched him go out of worry. Pyrrha was about to go after him and say something, when Ventus stopped her. "Just let him go," Ventus advised. "Sora's never been a big fan of saying goodbye to friends when he doesn't know how long it will be before he sees them again. Even less so, as of late."

"Parting from friends can be harder for some than others, but you say that as though Sora hates the idea completely," Ren observed.

"You probably would too if you'd been through what he has," Roxas shrugged. Right when the others were about to ask him for clarification, he instantly said, "Just forget about it, okay? It's Sora's problem to deal with, if not a problem for just our team. If we do end up needing help with it, we'll let you guys and Team RWBY know."

"Although, Ruby will most likely be the first one to tell, since she has the best chance of cheering him up. You know, with a big hug and a sweet, little round of…" Lea started to imply.

"AXEL/LEA," Roxas and Ventus both snapped as one, both worried about what their friend's mind had cooked up right then.

"What?! I was gonna say kissing. Jeez! I'm not _that_ bad," Lea insisted.

Seeing this exchange of banter between the remaining three Keybearers did help ease Team JNPR's worries about Sora, but they just could not get how dejected Sora's voice sounded before he had parted just now out of their minds even after they had finally met up with Cinderella and confirmed that everything was back to the way it should be again.

* * *

The flight back to Remnant, while not unpleasant, did have a certain tension in the air that no one was able to really break, save for how Nora was constantly flittering about the cockpit asking about the functions of the various controls. She was really excited to learn about every little thing about the stealth gummi ship that she could, but as far as any of the others could tell, the only one who found it really that endearing was Ren. Nora's rapid fire rate of pointing at various controls and asking what they did only came to a stop after Lea had tricked her into pressing a button that would spray her with knockout gas, putting her to sleep in an instant. Amusing as it all was, and as happy as they all were that something had finally gotten Nora to settle down, it did not really help alleviate the tension in the air, mainly because of the source of that tension.

Sora had been incredibly quiet beyond the necessary exchanges of pleasantries and commands since they had all come aboard and departed from Castle of Dreams. Sure, he was still smiling a little bit, but it was pretty obvious that he was only doing so just enough so that the ship had enough power to keep flying. The reason why everyone could tell was because his eyes held the same intensity that had been growing inside of him over time since that night at the docks, and to be quite honest, it was starting to scare his fellow Keyblade wielders a little bit. They were already worried about him as it was with the recent decline his attitude was taking, but they honestly had no idea that leaving Remnant to go to other worlds like this right now would have made it worse. Still, they were going to count their blessings and be thankful for the fact that he was not flying angry, or doing something really stupid in order to try and get back to Remnant sooner. Not that it stopped them from breathing a sigh of relief when they finally landed in the Emerald Forest again and then teleported back into Team SLVR's dorm room.

Their return actually ended up being timed perfectly, as Xion arrived to drop off some notes on things she had come across in her efforts to find Kairi almost right after Team JNPR left to return their equipment to their lockers, and while she did not have good news, she did admit to thinking that she may have found a few leads that could at least help a little. Sora brightened up a little when he heard that, and while he asked her to let him look over what she found, the rest of his team shot her a very thankful look from behind his back that she returned with a subtle wink. The only thing they were happier about was how Xion convinced him to study her notes in the cafeteria while they all grabbed lunch instead of just staying in the room to do so, because like them, she had managed to figure out that Sora was planning on doing just that if she did not say anything just from the way he had started turning to one of the desks.

Xion had quickly departed, saying that she had left a few more things in the library that could also help in the search, so they all ended up going on ahead without her. Right when they were rounding the last corner to the cafeteria, someone suddenly called out to them, making them pause and turn to see who wanted their attention. The person in question was a young, dark-brown haired woman decked out in an outfit that was various shades of brown, save for her black gloves and necklaces. Along with that, she also wore a pair of black, wire-rimmed aviator sunglasses, a dark brown beret, and had a black shoulder bag hanging off of her shoulder via what looked to be a bandolier strap. Seeing that the boys' eyes were on her, the girl strutted right over to them with confidence showing in every step, and asked, "You guys the mighty Team SLVR that everyone's talking about lately?"

"That depends on what people have been saying," Ventus stated, figuring it was better to err on the side of caution right now.

"All good things, really, like how you're supposed to be selfless paragons that aren't afraid to stand up to anyone, and have some really interesting weapons and Semblances," the girl easily summarized in response.

"Well in that case, you've guessed correctly. Team SLVR, at your service, Miss…" Lea announced with a bit of flare, while trailing off at the end as a way of asking who this girl was.

"Adel. Coco Adel, leader of Team CFVY," Coco smirked while lowering her shades so that they could finally see the cool yet friendly dark brown eyes behind them. "I've been meaning to talk to you guys for a while now so that I could say thanks for helping out my teammate with that jerk Winchester."

"Oh, so you're Velvet's team leader. She's mentioned you a lot whenever we hung out," Roxas realized as he walked over to shake hands with Coco. "Nice to finally meet the 'cool, confident, and always steadfast best friend' at long last. Velvet's words, though I'm not sure if she wanted me to mention that she said it all like that to you."

"No worries. I'm well aware just how much Velvet adores me and the rest of our team," Coco reassured. "So, judging by the hair and your familiarity with Vel, I'm guessing that would make you Dual-Blade Roxas, right?"

"That's me," Roxas confirmed, only to furrow his brow a minute later. "Wait, 'Dual-Blade Roxas'?"

"It's something of a nickname that I overheard some of the other students calling you," Coco revealed. She then turned to the other three and said, "And if what I've heard is right, that would make the guy who looks like you Ventus the Shining Air Master, the redhead Flame-Brain Lea, and the moody looking one Weapon Master Sora."

"Flame-Brain Lea," the redhead repeated, sounding a little offended, while the others could only snicker at his reaction.

"Got it all right, and nice to know we've earned ourselves some colorful titles. Especially since it means that I finally have at least one fancy nickname like these guys," Ventus admitted. "You can just call me Ven, though."

"Noted," Coco confirmed while she seemed to be giving him and the others a few appraising looks, like she was measuring them up for something. After another few minutes or so, she seemed to smile in approval as she said, "Gotta say, I _love_ your outfits, but…Sorry to say this Ven, but don't you think you could do a few more things to mix it up so that you and Roxas don't look that similar?"

"Trust me, I've thought about it quite a bit, but I really don't think it's my outfit that's the main problem in that regard," Ventus shrugged.

"Hmm, well maybe if you tired styling your hair a little differently, like maybe slicked it back or something, got a small haircut to the point of just being noticeable enough, or even dyed it a different color, that might help," Coco suggested. "I can probably list a few other different ideas on how you could change things up if you're ever interested. Offer goes for all the rest of you guys too."

"Thanks, but I'm good with what I've got," Sora declined, finally entering the conversation. "Besides, there's a lot more to my outfit than just helping me to look good."

That made Coco smirk in approval, clearly indicating that she was intrigued by Sora's statement while simultaneously happy to see him showing something a little closer to what Velvet had described the leader of the Keyblade wielder team as. "Hey, I did say that it was only if you were ever interested. Besides, I do feel like I owe you guys for helping out Velvet like that," Coco reassured him. "I love that girl to death, but she really needs to get a bit more confidence so she can really stand up for herself against racists like Cardin."

"It was no big deal," Sora shrugged. "Helping out others is just second-nature for us."

"Some more so than others," Lea pointed out. He then frowned a little and asked, "But how come you never tried to set Cardin straight for any of the stuff he did?"

"Believe me, if I could, I wouldn't hesitate to introduce him to Gianduja here, but unfortunately, school policies prevent students for picking fights with lower classmen," Coco frowned in response, showing just how much she really did want to put the hurt on that bully for the stuff he did to the rabbit Faunus.

While it was nice to see that Velvet's teammates did care about her to that extent, the reason behind their inability to help her with Winchester made a few things start to come into Ventus's mind. "Hold on. When you said 'lower classmen,' do you mean to say that you and your team aren't first years," he asked.

"Nope. This is our team's second year at Beacon."

"Are you saying that Velvet could've mopped the floor with Cardin if she wanted to at anytime," Lea reasoned out, having caught on to what Ven was thinking. When Coco just nodded in response, the boys all grew a little more confused, to the point where they were all wondering Lea's next question in their minds. "So…why didn't she? I mean, I get that there's rules against picking fights with lower classmen, but I'm sure no one would have a problem since Cardin was the one messing with her."

"It's just not who Velvet is. She's not really too fond of getting into confrontations with others," Coco shrugged.

"And yet she's attending a school that trains people in how to fight monsters," Roxas pointed out.

"Hey, she doesn't have any trouble with tearing through the Grimm, but when it comes to people, that's a different story," Coco clarified, earning some understanding hums from the boys. "Regardless, we owe you guys for stepping up when we couldn't, so if you ever need anything, just say the word."

"Thanks, we'll keep that in mind," Sora nodded. Afterwards, Coco said that she would catch them sometime later, and headed on her way, leaving them to resume their trek over to the cafeteria for a meal, content in knowing that they now had another person, if not three more people on their list of friends from Remnant.

* * *

It was no surprise that the guys would end up sitting with Team RWBY, who were just one table away from Team JNPR, but what was surprising was the distinct lack of the hooded leader. When Sora asked the girls where Ruby was, while ignoring the smirks of his friends, Yang merely said that her sister was working on something that was, in Ruby's words to be of the utmost importance. Beyond that, lunch proceeded as it normally did for the duration of their two week break from classes, with Sora looking over the notes that Xion had made in her search efforts for clues about Kairi, Yang catching food in her mouth that Nora tossed over to her while Lea occasionally added some extra spice to one or two pieces with his fire magic, Blake looking at something in her notebook, and everyone else just enjoying their food. Of course, the boys did have to tell the girls all about their most recent excursion to another world, but that was really the only break from normalcy right now, so it was not really worth noting to a great extent.

At one point, Yang was able to take a break from her food catching so that she could slide over to Blake and finally ask, "Whatcha doin'?"

"Nothing," Blake quickly answered while closing her notebook, preventing the others from seeing what was on the page. "Just going over some notes from last semester."

Yang had to quickly turn to catch Nora's latest food projectile in her mouth, but still turned back after she had to say, "Lame!"

"More like smart, and something you might want to consider doing too, seeing how you just barely made it through some of our classes last semester," Ventus corrected with a knowing smirk.

"Hey, my grades were just fine, thank you very much. Besides, what's it really matter when you're as awesome as I am," Yang questioned in her defense.

"I gotta agree with Hot-Stuff. You don't need to study when you're on fire by default," Lea nodded along, sparking a quick flame onto his finger as Nora tossed another piece of food past him and into Yang's mouth.

Roxas and Ventus both rolled their eyes at the obvious fire pun, while Yang threw a thumbs-up to both Nora and Lea. Everyone else just kept quiet or gave the two flat looks, but before anyone could say anything more on the matter, a large, white binder was suddenly dropped onto Teams RWBY and SLVR's table, startling both teams. Even Sora was caught by surprise when the book hit the wooden surface, mainly because he was really absorbed in looking over Xion's notes, and the surprises only grew when they saw that the person who had dropped off the book was none other than Ruby Rose herself, looking like she had something very important to say as she cleared her throat for attention.

"Sisters! Friends! Weiss," Ruby began.

"Hey!" Weiss cried out, while Lea laughed at the latest jab she had been dealt.

"And whatever Lea is," Ruby added.

"Wha-? Hey!" the redhead snapped, his laughter gone just like that, and now replaced with snickers from his teammates.

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream," Ruby continued on, sounding like she was giving an incredible speech all the while.

"This oughta be good," Yang grinned.

"Ruby, do you even know how long a score is," Ventus questioned.

"Shh! Don't ruin the moment," Sora quietly admonished so that Ruby could continue unhindered.

"A dream that one day, all of us would come together as friends, and have the most fun anyone has ever had…ever!"

"Did you steal my binder," Weiss interrupted, having noticed something that was more than a little familiar about the book Ruby had brought to their table.

"I am not a crook," was Ruby's only reply as she shot Weiss a couple of peace sign with both hands, earning her a soft chuckle from Sora.

"I don't know, Ruby. I mean, we can all clearly see the original title and Weiss's name marked out in the same red marker you used to write 'Best Day Ever Activities' on it, and since red's your favorite color, I'd say you've been caught…Ruby red-handed," Lea joked, or more accurately, punned, much to his friends' displeasure, and in some cases horror.

After getting out their moans and groans, Roxas immediately pointed to the blonde girl on the other side of the table, and said, "Yang, I swear, if I find out that this recent interest in puns my best friend has gained is due to your corruptive influence, I will shave your head, consequences be damned!"

"Hey, it's not our fault that you guys don't have a sense of humor," Yang shrugged, neither confirming nor denying the accusation.

"Actually we do, and that's the whole problem," Ventus fired back.

As entertaining as she found this, Blake was still curious about whatever it was Ruby was going on about just now, and decided to get them back onto the original topic. "What are you talking about, Ruby," she asked.

"I'm talking about kicking off the semester with a bang," Ruby eagerly announced.

"I always kick my semesters off with a Yang," the older of the two sisters then punned, completely breaking the moment for Ruby. "Eh? Guys? Am I right?"

Yang's only response to her bad joke was a number of face-palms, shaking heads, and groans, coupled with an apple that Nora threw at her face while crying out, "Boooooooo!"

"Yeah, you definitely deserved that one," Roxas sighed before he turned around to throw Nora a thankful grin, much to her satisfaction.

Hoping to avoid anyone causing a scene or starting something dramatic, Ruby quickly and happily intervened. "Look guys, it's been a good two weeks, and between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year, plus the chance to go on some more other worldly adventures with our resident Keyblade heroes, our second semester is going to be great! But classes start back up tomorrow. Which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today!"

"I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store for us," Weiss admitted worriedly, while ignoring Yang's attempt at retaliation for Nora's recent food attack. She missed her target, but did end up hitting someone else instead, much to the ginger haired girl's amusement.

"I don't know. I think I might sit this one out," Blake politely refused.

"Yeah, same here," Sora stated, much to everyone's surprise, and Ruby's disappointment. "This latest world hopping trip has set us back on our mission here, and I really need to go over all that Xion found while we were gone to see if any of it might hold up as a solid lead."

"Sit out or not, I think however we spend this last day, we should do it as a team," Weiss insisted.

"I agree," Ventus nodded while patting Sora on the back. "Those notes will still be here later, so why not spend our last day off from classes having a little bit of fun."

"Because we didn't come to Remnant to have fun, for one thing," Sora instantly reminded him, his voice starting to turn a little cold.

While the guys all flinched back out of fear after hearing him, Ruby just gave Sora a sad look and said, "But Sora, I was…I was really hoping that you could join in on this. I even came up with some ideas that I knew you would especially like since you've been in such a bad mood lately. Couldn't you at least consider it? Please?"

As if her sad sounding voice was not bad enough for him, Sora could barely even hold it together from just feeling the sad expression that Ruby was giving him right now. He tried his best to keep from facing the girl, but in the end, he had to succumb, and found his gaze meeting Ruby's very sad one, causing his resolve to crumble into dust. "Oh…okay, I guess it couldn't hurt to take a little break," Sora finally conceded, already starting to pack up Xion's notes into his bag so that he could put his full attention on hearing Ruby's plans for the day.

His response earned him a happy cheer from Ruby, while the others all shared knowing smirks with each other. At least until Yang noticed something over at Team JNPR's table, and quickly turned a little panicked as she waved for the person responsible to not do what they were thinking of doing. Yang's efforts proved futile, because right when Weiss stood up, she ended up getting a pie right in the face before she could say much of anything. The others all instantly spun to face the pie-thrower, only to see a very startled looking Pyrrha and Jaune, an exasperated Ren holding his face in his palm, and Nora quickly dropping back into her seat while throwing an accusatory finger at her best friend despite how obvious it was that she was the guilty party.

Just when the girls were about to retaliate on Nora's recent pie attack, Lea suddenly laughed and said, "Hey check it out! A _Weiss_-Cream Pie!"

As funny as some of the guys found Lea's joke, Ventus had to disagree, especially given how Weiss was now glaring at his tall friend, so he felt completely justified in what he was preparing to do. "Oh, you think that's funny, huh," Ventus asked with a conspriatory tone of voice. "Well how about you have a nice, cold, drink on you."

Before Lea could ask what Ventus meant by that, the blonde was already up out of his seat, and dumping out an entire can of soda all over him, drenching the fire magic expert from head to toe in the sticky drink, much to Ven and Sora's amusement. Roxas on the other hand looked very worried now, and the others were starting to see why when Lea slowly turned to his laughing teammates and asked, "Oh, so it's like that, huh?"

"Uh-oh," was all Roxas could say, since he had only heard Lea speak that way one other time before in a situation like this, and he knew that it would not lead to anything good, and before he knew it, he was proven right, as all hell broke loose along with someone shouting two particular words.

"FOOD FIGHT!"

* * *

Around the same time chaos incarnate was beginning to unfold, Sun was actually heading over to the cafeteria as well with his partner right beside him, listening in amazement as the monkey boy told him about the craziness that had gone down that night at the docks. "Man, that's harsh," the blue-haired boy commented during Sun's most recent pause in the story.

"So then we were fighting side by side, and she was super fast and I threw a banana at a guy, which sounds gross, but it was awesome," Sun continued on.

"Nice!"

"Right? And the best part is she's a Faunus," Sun accidentally revealed. Thankfully, he realized his mistake quickly enough, and immediately added, "But that's a secret, okay?"

"Got it."

"And not a 'I'm gonna go tell Scarlet the second Sun turns his back' secret. I'm talking secret-secret," Sun emphasized with a look to his friend.

"Whoa, chill out man, okay? I got it," the blue-haired boy reassured him. When Sun gave him another look to be absolutely sure, he nodded once again as he repeated in a near-whisper, "I got it!"

"You better," Sun cautioned, earning him a scoff from his friend. "I just don't want to screw this up, ya know? The people here are the coolest! No offense to you guys."

"None taken," his friend dismissed with an easy going smile. "Especially after hearing about those guys with the key-shaped swords you were talking about. Speaking of which, what were they doing the whole time?"

"Aw man, you should've seen it!" Sun cheered, getting excited all over again at the memory of the Keybearers in action. "They were tearing through White Fang and these other weird, silver creatures like they were nothing, and I was thinking that their weapons weren't really going to do much, but after seeing the stuff they did, boy was I proven wrong! They were blasting them with fire, ice, and all kinds of other stuff, slicing them in half like master swordsmen, and then this one guy, who's like the leader of the team I told you about, summoned a freakin' roller coaster made of lights!"

"Whoa! Seriously?! You're not just messing with me now, right," the guy questioned.

"Dude, I wouldn't be telling you this if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes," Sun insisted. "I get the feeling that those guys have some kind of bigger story behind them, but whatever it is, it's probably an even huger secret than the Faunus thing, and some of them seem pretty tight-lipped or really sensitive about it, so don't try to press them for answers on that stuff, okay, Neptune?"

"Like I said, man, I got it," Neptune reassured his friend.

The two were just about at the entrance to the cafeteria, having taken no notice of the chaos that was happening inside as they were passing by the windows, not even when Jaune suddenly came flying into one of those windows along with some of the food, and it would be a little longer before they did notice anything, as they soon heard someone else calling out to them. "Hey Sun! Wait up," a girl shouted out, making the boy in question turn to see Xion racing over to him and his friend.

"Xion, hey, good to see you," Sun greeted in return as she came to a stop before him and his friend. "I was just telling my buddy about you and the others."

"Oh! Are you one of Sun's teammates," Xion asked.

"Yep. Name's Neptune. Nice to meet you," the blue-haired boy introduced with a charming smile.

While she was flattered and a bit amused by the obvious attempt at flirting, Xion still had to turn the guy down and immediately said, "I have a boyfriend. Namely one who is definitely the jealous type and uses two Keyblades."

"And that's cool," Neptune quickly stated, raising his hands in playful surrender to show that he was backing off. He may be a charmer, but he did know better than to cross certain lines. "So, do you also have one of those Keyblades?"

"Yeah. Nearly everyone in my circle of friends does," Xion admitted. "Speaking of which, were you guys headed to the cafeteria to meet up with them too?"

"Of course. I wanted to introduce the others to Neptune since he just got here today," Sun explained. "What about you? You grabbing a bite while meeting up with Roxas or something?"

"Yes and no. I also have some notes that I wanted to give to Sora since they pertain to one of the big reasons why he and the others are all here," Xion explained.

"Well, what're we waiting for? They should all be just in here then," Sun said. Turning back to Neptune, he then added, "I'm really excited for you to meet them, so be cool, okay? You're gonna be cool, right?"

"Dude," Neptune replied as he assumed a cool pose and grinned, his teeth flashing a little in the sunlight as if to emphasize his argument.

"Good point," Sun agreed, while Xion just raised an eyebrow in question, wondering how that was supposed to answer Sun's question.

She shook it off though, as they all just headed on in to the cafeteria, only to freeze up a little as they were nearly trampled over by a number of fleeing students. "What in the world," Xion started to ask, only to stop short when Cardin suddenly fell over his own feet in his attempts to get away right next to her.

"We're dead," Cardin shouted, obviously having a panic attack of some kind. "We are dead! All dead! All gonna die! Dead men be we! A cornucopia of pain and despair is coming our way to ensure our demise! We are so going to die-e-e!"

Cardin likely would have continued on further from that had one of his teammates not come up from behind, hoisted him up, and then slapped him in the face. "Get a hold of yourself, man! AND RUN LIKE CRAZY," said teammate shouted, but Xion, Sun, and Neptune were unable to tell which member of Team CRDL it was before he vanished from the room along with the rest of the students, leaving them as the only witnesses to the madness that was about to unfold here.

"Ahahahaha," Nora loudly cackled from atop a massive fortress made up of tables and a couple of soda machines, while standing proudly on various points of her fortress was the rest of Team JNPR and surprisingly, Lea and Roxas. A minute later, Nora started singing out, "I'm queen of the castle~! I'm queen of the castle~!"

Nora's singing was interrupted when Ventus suddenly shot up out of nowhere and angrily pointed at his look-a-like. "Roxas, how could you betray us like this," he dramatically cried out.

"Sorry guys, but when it comes to choosing teams, I feel like it would be smarter to side _with_ the team that has both Nora and Axel on it than against them," Roxas excused.

His answer was not met well, as Sora and Ruby suddenly stomped down on a table in front of them dramatically, while the former declared, "You shall pay for this treachery, Sheru! You and Firebrand both! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

"Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful," Ruby promised soon after while squashing a milk carton in one hand. "IT WILL BE DELCIOUS!"

"YEAH!" the rest of Team RWBY and Ventus screamed out, raising their fists high to show their readiness for battle.

"Off with their heads," Nora ordered while jumping down from her tower, signaling her team to attack, not knowing she had given some of the Keybearers flashbacks to a certain queen from Wonderland when she said that.

Hearing his childhood friend's order, Ren immediately stomped down on a tray holding three watermelons, and then sent them flying at Sora, Ven, and Team RWBY with a fast spin kick. Jaune and Pyrrha were quick to send their own large green fruits flying as well, while Lea and Roxas batted several melons at their opponents using their Keyblades, and Nora went the extra mile by flipping over an entire table of watermelons. Ventus immediately went to work trying to blow the melons away using his wind magic, trying his best to send the very healthy fruit back to the ones who had thrown them, but Roxas was quick to either deflect or repel the melons onto their original flight path once again.

"Yang! Turkey," Ruby ordered, seeing Ven's stalling tactic was not going to hold for long.

Yang immediately rushed forward to grab a pair of turkeys from the ground, and immediately slipped them onto her hands so that she could use them like her gauntlets. One quick slam of the cooked birds later, and Yang was rushing in to punch through what remained of the watermelon barrage. When the last melon was destroyed, Sora and Blake jumped over and ahead of her, each grabbing one or two baguettes as they rolled along the ground after landing, and destroyed four more melons, leaving the last one for Yang to smash with a fast back kick. Yang then sent the turkeys flying at Pyrrha and Jaune, and while the invincible girl was able to dodge the projectiles, Jaune was not so lucky. Grabbing a baguette of her own, Pyrrha then immediately moved to engage Blake in a duel of bread-blades. Sora would have tried to assist Blake in her battle against the redhead, but Roxas had other ideas, as he intercepted Sora with his own pair of bread loafs.

"We were brothers once," Roxas snarled at Sora after they had locked loafs.

"Once," Sora confirmed before he broke the lock and engaged Roxas in a duel that was very similar to the last one they had not so long ago.

The two boys were very evenly matched until Sora took his eyes off the former Nobody just long enough to see Blake being forced back by Pyrrha. That left him open for Roxas to finally bash him back, and he continued to press his advantage by tossing one of his baguettes at Sora, while Pyrrha did the same. The only difference was that Pyrrha was targeting Yang, and throwing her bread projectiles in a manner similar to how she would throw her javelin. Sora was unable to stave off the barrage of bread, and while Yang was able to hold her own for a short time, she was ultimately knocked down by Pyrrha. Ruby was not about to let her sister's defeat stand, and she proved it by using a food tray to slide along the tables towards Pyrrha. When Pyrrha's next baguette came for her, Ruby quickly spun around and sent the loaf flying in the opposite direction, eliminating Roxas from the fight. Pyrrha was completely caught off guard at seeing her attack had ended up taking out one of her teammates, and as a result of pausing to apologize to Roxas, she ended up unprepared for the moment when Ruby came flying in to slam her tray into the invincible girl, her strong legs adding some extra strength to the blow.

Ren and Nora immediately came running in to get even for their fallen teammate, but their opponents were ready for the pair, as Ruby proved when she leapt aside, allowing Weiss to release a stream of ketchup onto the floor before them. Ren was unable to either slow down or stop before his feet hit the slippery trail, and ended up crashing into several tables that had been stacked up as a make-shift barricade at some point. Nora was able to take advantage of the scattered tables though, as she jumped onto and off one to grab a flagpole that she then stabbed into a watermelon, granting her a make-shift hammer. She had intended to hit Weiss with the melon hammer, but before she knew what was happening, Ventus had jumped between Nora and her target, taking the hit for Weiss.

"Ven," Weiss cried out from worry after seeing the boy get bashed away, but she did not let it distract her for long, as she quickly scooped up a sword fish to engage Nora in a one-on-one face-off. Weiss's skill with her usual weapon seemed to hold true even with her improvised sword, but Nora's overwhelming power and strength ended up being too much for her, and she was soon sent flying away after a particularly nasty hit.

Said hit ended up sending Weiss crashing into a pillar, rendering her unconscious and causing the pillar to collapse before it slowly started to fall, threatening to flatten Weiss when it came to the ground. Luckily, Ruby came to the rescue, easily catching her partner before she was crushed, but it did not seem like Weiss was going to be waking up. "Weiss. Weiss! Don't leave me," Ruby called out in an attempt to rouse her partner, but it proved futile. "NOOOOOO!"

Unfortunately for Nora, Ventus had recovered just when Ruby's dramatic cry of sorrow had rang out, and after seeing Weiss was down, he fixed a hardened glare on Nora, and raced forward, grabbing a baguette to use as a sword. He soon clashed his food-weapon against Nora's until eventually they found themselves in a hard lock with one another, and he took that moment to deliver a promise to JNPR's powerhouse. "Hello. My name is Ventus Kunsanagi. You defeated my teammate. Prepare to die."

"Bring it," Nora grinned eagerly, and like that, their duel commenced once again, while Yang scooped up another pair of turkeys to engage Lea and Ren.

Ren had grabbed a pair of leeks to use like the blades on his guns, while Lea had retrieved a pair of large pretzels that he wielded like his chakrams, and the two were soon matching Yang blow for blow. Sadly, Ren was quickly overwhelmed by Yang's reflexes and strength, and even after using the moment he was knocked into the air to try and take Yang down, he was ultimately defeated by the blonde. Thankfully, Lea was still going, and was soon sending adding a small bit of fire to his large pretzels when he next attacked. Yang was able to match the redhead, but it was clear from his cocky grin that Lea believed he still held the advantage. That cockiness was soon proven when Ven suddenly came from out of nowhere and slammed into Yang, no doubt courtesy of a particularly hard hit from Nora, and granting Lea the opening he needed to finally take down both blondes. The redhead easily tossed his pretzels at the two, and unfortunately, Yang did not have enough recovery time to pull both herself and Ventus clear from the line of fire, so she had no choice but to leave Ven to take the brunt of that attack. Sad thing was, her attempt to dodge Lea put her right in Nora's line of fire, and the ginger haired girl easily used her melon hammer to send Yang flying up through the ceiling.

Seeing her partner and Ventus get taken down, Blake was more than ready to retaliate, and given that Nora and Lea's last attacks came at the cost of losing their weapons, she was sure that she held the advantage now, so she quickly retrieved a long, link of sausages and attacked. With a few easy, hard swings, she used the link like a whip, and struck both hyper redheads hard enough to send them flying back into the soda machines that rested at the base of their team's fortress. Unfortunately for Blake, that proved to supply Lea and Nora with some new weapons, and they quickly made that clear when they began launching several soda bombs at her. Blake was able to dodge many of them easily enough, thanks in part to her Semblance and natural agility, but she was still thankful for Ventus coming in to redirect the soda cans away using some quick and powerful wind magic.

Lea and Nora did not slow down in their throwing of soda cans though, until Pyrrha finally recovered from Ruby's earlier attack and saw what they were doing. Seeing a few more soda cans on the ground around her, Pyrrha did not need to think twice about using her Semblance to up the ante, and soon sent a massive wave of soda cans flying towards her two opponents, giving Nora and Lea a chance to take a break from their soda throwing. Seeing Pyrrha joining in on the soda barrage, Ventus was quickly forced to increase the amount of wind magic he was using until he could no longer cast a single spell. That was exactly the moment Pyrrha was waiting for, and before either cat Faunus or Keyblade wielder could react, they were both knocked back and out of the fight by a storm of soda bombs.

When they saw their teammates go flying over their heads, Ruby and the recovered Sora both slowly rose to their feet again, leveling a glare at their opponents, as the latter adopted his best French accent said, "Mademoiselle Rose, would be so kind as to deliver a special order of what Chef Sora is about to cook up for our foes?"

"With pleasure, good sir," Ruby quipped in return, giving Sora his cue to spin back, and summon his Keyblade, which he quickly transformed into Grand Chef.

"Wait, is he gonna…" Lea started to ask when he saw what Keyblade Sora started wielding.

"I think he is," Roxas replied, seeing Sora point his Keyblade at everyone on their side of the food fight, and wave it over them like he was lining it up for a special shot.

Jaune had just recovered in time to hear the two's exchange, and was about to ask what they were talking about, when he saw Ruby take a runner's starting stance. "Oh she wouldn't," he protested.

"Ready," Ruby shouted to Sora.

"She would," Ren informed his leader.

"Set," Sora called back to Ruby, making Team JNPR and their two allies all the more nervous.

"GO," both then shouted as one. The minute that they shouted that, Sora spun forward a bit and unleashed the power of his Fruit Crusher Shotlock to rain down tons of fruit from the sky, which bounced off his Keyblade after it had transformed into a shield. As the fruit continued to rain down, Ruby took off with her fastest and most powerful burst of speed, grabbing every bit of food in the tailwind that followed her, be it the food that was already in the cafeteria, or the fruits that Sora had just summoned with his Keyblade.

Before they could really think about how Sora was not getting picked up by the tailwind as well, Lea and Roxas saw Ruby transform into a red tornado of rose petals before she rocketed past them and the boys of Team JNPR. A moment later, they too felt themselves getting picked up by the powerful winds along with the rest of their allies, and they did not stop until they all slammed into the wall that was just cracked by the wind pressure of Ruby's speed. They barely saw Ruby leap high into the air before their eyes found the storm of food that flying at them, and they all knew one thing in that moment.

"Roxas, I think we made a terrible mistake," was all that Lea could utter out, and while he mainly meant that in regards to their choice of sides in this food fight, others could say that it also applied to the decision to challenge Ruby Rose to a food fight at all.

"'Roxas, I think we made a terrible mistake.' That's you," Roxas mocked his friend, but he was quickly being forced to close his mouth again so that none of the food or dishware that was swept up along with the food got into his mouth while it was painting both him and the rest of his teammates.

A moment later, Ruby dropped to the floor again, standing before the cracked wall that had now become a relative work of pop art, while Sora spun around to hold his Keyblade down by his side in victory, leaving Team JNPR, Lea, and Roxas to drop to the ground, defeated at last. Sora only needed to bask in his team's victory for a moment before he looked to the defeated team and openly mocked, "Would you care for our desert menu next? Perhaps some humble pie, or even the humility pudding? Oh, or perhaps the Rose de Tarte ala Sora, named in honor of the true queen of the cafeteria."

"Why Chef Sora, you are far too kind, sir," Ruby commented in a faux, proper-sounding accent, knowing that he was referring to her with that last bit.

"I merely give credit where it is due, madam," Sora bowed with a bit of showboating as his answer to Ruby's statement, earning a cute giggle from Ruby in return. His moment of showing off only continued when he grasped Ruby's hand and place a quick kiss on the back of her palm, drawing a brilliant blush onto Ruby's face while making her giggles grow a little more. Sure, she had a hunch he was just playing around, but it was still very touching all the same to Ruby.

As she watched the show continue on, Xion could not help but smirk at the sight of the two team leaders, now finally seeing a perfect show of what Roxas and the others had been telling her about regarding Sora and Ruby. It was very clear just how much the two were clicking together with one another, so she had to wonder just how much longer it would be before those two also realized this. Although, she had to admit that she was a little worried about how Sora would react when he did realize how close he and Ruby were becoming, but all the same, she was going to enjoy seeing sweet moments between them like this while she could.

Sun on the other hand, had taken in everything that had just happened, and could only think of one thing to say. "I love these guys."

"Ditto," Xion agreed, but given the look on his face and how he was covered in grape soda, it did not look like Neptune could find it in himself to agree with the sentiment as well.

Neptune was not the only upset with what had just happened, as proven when Glynda Goodwitch suddenly stormed in with a very cross look on her face. Sure, you could say that she was upset that some of the students had decided to start a food fight that had nearly destroyed the cafeteria, but others would argue that part of her irritation was due to the fact that she was the one who was now having to clean up the resulting mess. Sure, it was not too hard, given her Semblance made it easy to return everything to its original state after a simple wave of her riding crop, but it was the principle of the matter, all the same.

When the last table had finally been returned to its original spot, Glynda leveled a powerful glare on the three teams involved in the food fight, and said, "Children, please." She then paused to readjust her glasses, unknowingly making things all the more dramatic before she finished her statement when she did. "Do not play with your food."

"That's what she calls _playing_ with their food," Xion whispered in disbelief.

On the other side of things, the teams that Goodwitch was glaring at were all just keeping quiet until Nora let out a loud burp. When Yang finally came crashing back down from her earlier flight, looking none the worse for wear, no one could find it in themselves to hold it in any longer, but it still ended up being Sora who was the first to burst out laughing like no tomorrow, with the others following along soon after, much to Glynda's growing displeasure. She likely would have started screaming at someone or something, had she not suddenly felt a calming hand being placed on her shoulder, and turned to see Ozpin had just arrived.

"Let it go," Ozpin insisted, not sounding upset at all.

Despite the fact that her boss did not seem the least bit angry with these kids, Goodwitch still managed to let out a calming breath, even if it did still sound rather angry when it came. "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world, while four of them are supposed to be defenders of so much more than that," Goodwitch grumbled.

"And they will be, while those very four have been just that for quite some time now, but right now they're all still children. So why not let them play the part," Ozpin asked. As he turned to leave, he could not help but add, "After all, it isn't a role they'll have forever, even if some of them have more than earned the chance to do so."

If the students heard what their headmaster had said, they did not seem to give any indication of it, since they were all still laughing like no tomorrow and going on about various points in their bout that each of them found particularly awesome in one way or another. Their laughter did not seem likely to calm at all until a familiar voice suddenly shouted, "What did you four do now?!"

"Uh-oh," Ventus gasped as he flinched in fear along with the rest of the guys.

"Not again," Sora moaned miserably when he saw Aqua stomping towards them, looking very upset.

"I cannot believe the four of you would actually go and have a food fight like that," Aqua started off as she marched over to her fellow Keyblade wielders, making them all hang their heads in sorrow and anticipation for the pain that was likely about to come. Thankfully it never did, because the next thing anyone knew, Aqua's serious exterior had dropped completely as she finished, "Without me! Ven, you know how much I loved all those food fights we used to have with Terra back in the day."

As shocking as it was to hear that the mighty, elegant, and always-proper Aqua would actually have joined in on their food fight if she had the chance, there was no denying how amusing the notion also was, or how Aqua had gone from serious and angry to sad and whinny in an instant like that. Not that it stopped Ventus from shooting back a retort for her last comment. "I also remember how you only won most of them because you cheated, and what happened as a result of our last fight," the blonde commented.

"What happened that time," Ruby asked.

"Uh, nothing! Nothing at all."

Needless to say, no one believed Ven's panicked reaction to Ruby's question, and Aqua's mischievous smile showed that she was not going to keep it a secret. "He got a whole mess of pudding stuck in his hair for weeks, along with a number of other things like syrup and dough. No matter how hard he scrubbed, even after blasting himself in the face with a water spell, it just would not come out."

Apparently that was even funnier than anything that happened in the food fight from just seconds ago, because everyone had instantly burst out laughing once again, save for Ventus, who could only huddle over in a corner as if attempting to hide from the shame of such embarrassment. "We promised that we never going to talk about that again," Ventus grumbled under his breath.

"Tell us more," Yang then demanded of Aqua, wanting to hear a few more embarrassing stories about Ventus like that, and the rest of Team SLVR if Aqua knew any.

"With pleasure, Yang," Aqua agreed, only pausing when she noticed the eager smiles on the rest of Team SLVR's faces. "I don't know what you three are so excited about. I've got almost if not just as many stories about you three to tell them as I do about Ventus."

"What? No you don't," Lea disputed.

"Yeah, you're bluffing," Roxas accused, but on the inside, he and Lea were both very nervous that she was telling the truth.

"Am I? Does the tale about a certain incident on Neverland ring a bell? Namely one that involved Tinker Bell, some mermaids, and a particularly messy Heartless," Aqua questioned, making the two go more and more pale in the face with every word she said.

Sora was not sure what Aqua was referring to, but at the moment, he did not care. If she really did know about some embarrassing stories regarding each of them, then there was no doubt she would tell them to Team RWBY at the very least unless they thought of something to distract them. Thankfully, he knew just the thing. "Hey, Aqua! What brings you here, anyway? Don't you have some important work to do right now, or something," Sora asked.

"I do, actually, and that's part of the reason why I'm here," Aqua confirmed. She then stood up straight and turned to approach the cane-wielding man that ran the school. "You're Professor Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon, right?"

"Indeed I am," Ozpin confirmed. "And who might you be, Miss…"

"Master," Aqua corrected. "Master Aqua Magum of the Keyblade. I'm here on behalf of Master Yen Sid."

"I see," Ozpin nodded in understanding. "Perhaps you would consider postponing any talks between us for a later time, though? An old friend of mine is due to arrive very soon, and I think he should hear about any updates you have as well. In the meantime, I can set you up with a special room in the guest dorms, or if you wish, you could share a room with your friend, Miss Memoriko. I'd hate to have to make you wait around in some stuffy room on the ship that brought you and your fellow Keyblade wielders here, after all."

Aqua nodded in agreement and then made to follow Ozpin out of the cafeteria along with Xion, right after the black haired girl had quickly handed off her notes to Sora, but the blue haired woman still paused to turn back and informed her friends. "Don't think you're out of the woods, just yet."

Team SLVR simultaneously gulped nervously upon hearing that, and they knew that Aqua was going to make good on her threat. Clearly she had now found a new way to get back at them for leaving on this new adventure without telling her, and they could only pray that she did not tell the girls or any of their friends on this world anything too embarrassing, even if it was a futile hope. "Does anyone know where some bad guys are," Lea asked.

"Why," Blake asked.

"So we can go throw ourselves into a fight with them and let them beat us up, because honestly, that would probably be a lot more merciful in comparison to what Aqua's planning," Roxas explained.

Sora and Ventus both nodded in agreement, but none of the others seemed to really sympathize with them, save for Jaune and Ruby, as they had both quickly figured out why they were so afraid of what Aqua was going to tell them. Sure, they were just as eager as everyone else to hear the embarrassing stories, but that did not mean they could not offer some form of comfort to some of Team SLVR right now, as evidenced by the reassuring pats on the back that they gave to the two.

* * *

That evening at Roman's base of operations, the White Fang was hard at work gathering up and taking stock of the supplies of Dust that they had stolen while working with Torchwick, while the criminal in question was looking over his map of Vale in an effort to determine where they should strike next. Or at least he was until he noticed a certain pair of individuals had just arrived; namely, the same pair of kids that were very close associates of Cinder and Luxu's, more so the former than the latter. What he was more interested in was why they were only showing up just now when they should have been here a while ago, but he was not going to let on to that just yet.

"Oh, look, she sent the kids again," Roman remarked in a false happy tone. "This is turning out just like the divorce."

"Ugggh," the green haired girl of the two shivered in disgust before she and her partner managed to shrug Roman off. "Spare us the thought of procreating."

"That was a joke," Roman informed her before he flashed a piece of paper that he swiped out of the girl's pocket at her. "And _this_ just might tell me where you two have been all day."

"What," the girl gasped, wondering how Roman could have pick-pocketed her so easily.

"I'm a professional, sweetheart. Pay attention; maybe you'll learn something," Roman explained as simply as he could. He then looked at what was written on the paper that the girl had, and frowned upon reading its contents. "Why do you have this address?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," the girl retorted.

"Yeah, I would. Now, where have you been all day," Roman questioned.

"Cleaning up your problems," the boy taunted in return. "One of them at least."

"I had that under control," Roman growled back.

"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise," the boy countered, getting even further under Roman's skin.

"Listen, you little punk. If it were up to me, I would take you and your little street-rat friend here, and I would…" Roman started to threaten, only to be cut off before he could finish.

"Do what, Roman," Cinder's voice suddenly echoed about the room, drawing all three of their gazes up to see the woman in question riding a freight elevator down to them, her glare just daring Roman to finish his threat.

Roman could only laugh nervously before he nervously replied, "I'd uh…Not kill them?"

"Cinder," the green haired girl excitedly beamed upon seeing her boss.

"Hey, what about me? Don't I get any love, Emerald," another voice questioned from the shadows, prompting everyone to turn and see none other than Luxu stepping out, his hood down so that they could see his grin.

"Don't take it too personally, Luxu. Cinder's just got an extra special place in Emerald's heart that you just can't hope to match," the boy teased, earning him a smack on the arm from the green-haired girl.

While Cinder did find the banter amongst her companions amusing, she was a little more peeved at the moment with Roman's inability to silence one of their loose-ends: a former White Fang member by the name of Tukson who had been planning to leave for Vacuo, at least until he had the misfortune of meeting Emerald and her partner earlier that day. "I thought I made it clear that you were to eliminate the would-be runaway," Cinder informed Roman.

"I was going to," Roman started to insist, only for Emerald to interrupt.

"He was going to escape to Vacuo. Mercury and I decided to take it upon ourselves to kill the rat," Emerald proudly corrected.

"I think he was some sort of cat, actually," Mercury told his comrade.

"What, like a puma," Emerald joked with a faint chuckle.

"Yeah, there ya go," Mercury agreed.

"Quiet," Cinder interrupted, her cold tone telling the two that they made a mistake in thinking that she would approve, something that Roman apparently found funny, given how he was smiling mockingly at them as she scolded them. "Did I not _specifically_ instruct you two to keep your hands clean while in Vale?"

"I just thought…" Emerald started to say.

"Don't think. Obey," Cinder said.

Seeing how cowed Emerald and Mercury were, Luxu took this time to step forward and said, "Hey, don't get us wrong, we're glad you took care of the rat, and you did make a good effort to cover your tracks so that no one would know it was you two, but in order for this big plan to work, we need to be absolutely sure that you're so squeaky clean that anyone would think the idea of you being cold, hardened crooks, to put it mildly would be just a silly little joke. Just be glad that I had some Dusks keeping an eye on you guys so that they could clean up any remaining indications of your involvement that you missed." He then grew a lot more serious all of a sudden and said, "But keep in mind, there's very little chances of that happening a second time, understand?"

Emerald and Mercury both straightened up after they heard that, still looking apologetic for disobeying Cinder's orders, but glad that they were not in too much trouble all the same. "Yes sir, and ma'am. It won't happen again."

"Atta girl," Luxu praised with a pat on Emerald's shoulder. "See that, Roman? That's someone who knows how to carry out their role, and how to learn from their mistakes. Can you say the same?"

"I have to agree," Cinder said, making Roman nervous once again. "Why wasn't this job done sooner?"

"Uh…" Roman muttered before he started pointing all around him at the various containers of Dust in the warehouse. "Eh? Ehhhh? EHHHHHHHHHH?! Sorry if I've been a little busy stealing every speck of Dust in the kingdom!"

"You're an inspiration to every punk with a gun and a ski-mask," Mercury sarcastically praised, much to Emerald and Luxu's amusement. Even Cinder would have cracked more of a smile at her associate's mocking were it not for her sense of self-control.

"Nice one," Luxu chuckled in approval, sharing a fist-bump with Mercury soon after.

"Look around, boys. I've got this town running scared. Police camping out at every corner, Dust prices through the roof, and we're sitting pretty in an old warehouse with more Dust crystals, vials, and rounds than we know what to do with," Roman ranted as if it would help his case. Admittedly, it did to an extent, but it also seemed to be making him a little braver than Cinder or Luxu felt was acceptable for him right now. This showed when Roman asked his next question. "Speaking of which, if you guys wouldn't mind filling me in on your grand-master plan, it _might_ actually make my next string of robberies go a little smoother. Or hey, how about you lend me something that would actually stand a chance against those kids with the weird swords in case they show up to ruin everything again."

"Whoa! That's some pretty brave talk for someone so small," Luxu falsely praised, drawing a scowl from Roman. "Look, you don't need to concern yourself with Sora and the rest of his little Key-slinging pals; they've already got more than enough of their own problems to worry about. I'm making sure of that."

"Yes, do have a little faith, Roman. You'll know what you need when you need to know," Cinder insisted while caressing his face with one hand like a mother would a child's, much to Torchwick's displeasure. "Besides, we're done with Dust."

"Oh-kaaaay. Then what now," Torchwick questioned, feeling more than a little confused after hearing that.

"We're moving," Cinder answered. "Have the White Fang clear out this building. Luxu will provide you with some Nobodies to assist and make things go quickly. I'll send you details and coordinates tonight."

"Coordinates?"

"We're proceeding to phase two," Cinder declared with an excited-looking smirk.

With that said, Luxu, Mercury, and Emerald all took their leave with Cinder, but not before Emerald made sure that Roman knew she had pick-pocketed his lighter off of him as her way of showing that she did not need any tips in that department from him. Once they were well away from Roman, Luxu finally took this time to ask, "You sure we need him that badly?"

"Roman's a small man, but he does have his uses," Cinder insisted. "What about you? How are your efforts going?"

"It's only a matter of time before my old Keyblade is back where it belongs, and I'm sure that my old friends will be returning to this realm shortly after it does appear again," Luxu promised. "Speaking of which, there's a chance you may not see that much of me in the near future, since I've got to keep an especially close eye on where I think both the blade and those guys are going to reappear."

"Of course. If we need anything, we'll be sure to contact you," Cinder promised.

"Aw, and that means it's going to be a little more boring around here," Mercury complained.

"Hey, I never said I was leaving for good, Mercury. You just won't be seeing as much of me. You really think I'd leave you to suffer in the company of these two girls all alone for that long," Luxu questioned. "I mean, sure, hanging out with two girls is a dream come true for most guys, but with these two…"

"What's that supposed to mean," Emerald demanded.

"Whoa! Easy, easy there, Em. Just a little joke between us guys," Luxu reassured the green haired girl. He then waved as shadows began swirling around him, and said, "Be good boys and girls now."

The other three then watched as Luxu vanished into a dark corridor, and once he was gone, they resumed their departure from the hideout. As they went, Mercury could not help but comment, "I swear, that guy is just so weird and random."

"Yes, but you do get used to it after a while, or so I'm told," Cinder remarked.

* * *

**_AN: Okay, so going over what all happened, yes, I removed the scene where Emerald and Mercury took out Tukson, mainly because there was no change there beyond the Dusks going in to clean up any remaining traces of their involvement. And instead, we got a run down of what happened between the start of this chapter and the end of last chapter, before cutting over to another off-world mission for Team SLVR, this time featuring Team JNPR as their backup. And in case it wasn't obvious, yes, they did in fact go to the Castle of Dreams during the time period of Cinderella 3. In regards to the Heartless boss that they were fighting, like I said in the chapter, just think of that one Unversed Aqua fought when she went to that world in BBS, and you've got a good idea of what it looks like. I know, not really all that original, but to be fair, that wasn't a major point of focus for this chapter beyond showing how Jaune and his team were involved in a mission on another world at one point. I didn't want to leave that as just something we talked about, so you got a little show to go with it._**

**_Lea: Speaking of shows, there was also another encounter that we had today I feel like you should mention._**

**_AN: You mean the moment when you guys met Coco?_**

**_Lea: That's the one._**

**_AN: Yeah, I felt like I should give one or two members of Team CFVY at least a little bit of extra face-time in this story, and really, who better than Coco? I mean, you do remember how awesome she was during the Breach in Volume 2, right? A girl that badass deserves a chance to get a few more words in. Speaking of words, looks like our Keyblade heroes now have some fancy new titles. Be honest, what did you guys think of them? Some of them were kind of on the nose or thought of at the last minute, I'll admit, but I do think that they have a certain sense of rightness to them as well._**

**_Ventus: I'm just glad to finally have one at all. Much better than being considered as essentially a second generation Foreteller or something._**

**_AN: Here, here. Plus, we finally got someone to mention an idea to Ven and Roxas on ways they could change their looks so that people weren't confusing the two for one another so much in the story. Really, who better to do that than Coco? She has been mentioned and referenced as someone who's very in-the-know on fashion and style._**

**_Now, the part I'm sure everyone was really here on this chapter for: the food fight. Be honest, how many of you saw Team SLVR splitting up to stand on two different sides for this thing? Or that Sora would make Ruby's final attack all the more powerful by using the Grand Chef Keyblade's Shotlock? Pretty impressive, right? Also, did you guys catch all the little references that were made in the fight? Please don't be afraid to admit it if you did or didn't. I can list all the ones that I knowingly used in the next chapter's starting note if anyone is curious._**

**_And oh, look at that, we got a few more RoseHeart moments! Including one where our boy putting the moves on Ruby without even realizing it. Sora, you slyyyyy dog_**

**_RoseHeart: [blushing brightly, knowing just which moment he was referring to]_**

**_AN: Finally, all that went down during the most recent meeting of evil minds. Yeah, Luxu's pretty tight with Cinder's crew, as if that wasn't already obvious, but look on the bright side, he hasn't gotten his Keyblade back just yet, and the Foretellers haven't quite returned to the worlds yet either. Too bad that's not going to last for very long, but hey, at least now you guys know my reasons for not getting the one-eyed punk involved in that many different things that Cinder and her crew are up to. Btw, does anyone think that we can classify Mercury and Emerald as Cinder's friends, because if you ask me, they seem more like lackeys a lot of the time. Sure, there are moments when it seems like at least Emerald considers Cinder as something more than just her boss, and the same can kinda be said in regards to her and Mercury, but considering Cinder's character, I don't really think she sees anyone as a friend or anything beyond that._**

**_Ruby: You know, that actually is a good question, considering that most of the friendly act she put up at Beacon before the Fall was just to maintain her cover._**

**_AN: Yeah...Something to think about I guess, but we're off-topic. We will see a few more appearances in terms of both the Heartless and the Nobodies, so don't think that Luxu's lack of presence on Remnant is going to change that. I will go ahead and say now though that we will be seeing the Nobodies more on Remnant than anywhere else though. Beyond that, I don't really think there's anything else I can cover today. Is there?_**

**_Sora: No, I think you got it all, assuming that Weiss is safe from Donald now, and that you got Blake away from those security dogs._**

**_AN: Do you think I'd be sitting here right now talking to you guys if I hadn't? [turns to the side] Ladies, how you holding up?_**

**_Weiss: [looking out of breath but none the worse for wear] I'm good. Just going to have to make sure that I watch what I say when I'm not one hundred percent sure certain individuals dressed like sailors are within hearing range._**

**_Blake: [shivering a little, clearly still in shock from having to run from so many dogs at once] I'll be okay. I think. There were so many._**

**_AN: Oh boy. I think we might need something extra to help her._**

**_Ruby: Allow me. [runs to the kitchen and returns with a big bowl of noodles topped with fresh fish, much like the one Blake had at the start of Volume 3]_**

**_Blake: [goes stary-eyed with a smile of thanks as she starts to dig in] Okay, I'm all better now. Thanks Ruby._**

**_AN: Well...I'm actually a little disappointed in myself for not thinking of that sooner. Lessons have been learned for the future. Speaking of the future, let's get on over to our regularly scheduled look at this story's next chapter. Onto the Preview!..._**

**_The arrival of General Ironwood brings an interesting encounter for Aqua and Ozpin, but given that it also comes with a small fleet of Atlesian battleships and soldiers, you could understand why the two are more than a little concerned with the general's idea of being cautious. Meanwhile, a nice relaxing group study session (or at least what's supposed to be a group study session) has little effect on keeping Sora and Blake from getting more and more restless over the lack of answers to their respective questions and quests. So is it really any surprise that their teammates decide to hatch a plan to take a more active approach in getting those very answers themselves? The time to take action for the safety of Vale and beyond approaches, next time._**

**_Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy._**


	10. Heroes on the Move

**_AN: And now, ladies and gentlemen, it's time once again, to take another step into the adventures of Keyblade wielders in Remnant with the newest chapter of Remnant of the Key!_**

**_[audience applause]_**

**_Yeah, that's right. You know you're loving it, and while this chapter may be a bit shorter than I had originally expected it to be, I do think it does set up a few things pretty nicely, at least in regards to the stuff that's going to happen in the next chapter._**

**_Blake: Even with you combining a few different things from two different episodes into one chapter again, along with adding original content and dialogue, right?_**

**_AN: Pretty much. Anyways, let's do a quick run through a review answers before we get into things, shall we?_**

_**First off, "keybladelight", as hard as it was to decipher what you wrote, I did get a basic gist of what you were trying to say in your idea pitch, and I may try to see if I can run with it later. I'm not making any promises though. As for your question about which of those was the most villainous person...Honestly, I feel like that's a pretty tough call.**_

_**Ruby: No kidding. Between Salem, Xehanort, and the Master of Masters? That's like trying to solve the mystery of what my mom's weapon was right now.**_

_**AN: Not quite the analogy I would use, but you can see her point, I'm sure. Anyways...**_

_**"Spiderfan626", Yeah, I saw what you did there. Very nice, and you won't have to wait any longer to see how the teams will work in the big mission, 'cause we're finding that out today.**_

_**"Kegeto", believe me, I'm looking forward to that moment too, and there will be plenty of other reasons as to why everyone should look forward to it, besides its level of adorableness.**_

_**RoseHeart: [blushing profusely]**_

_**AN: Guys, focus! Now's not the time for that. Good grief.**_

_**"Hamm1999", I will think about and maybe look into adding Red vs Blue in as another world, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. As far as other worlds go, Remnant's still looking like the only non-Disney world that's going to be in this series for the moment (assuming you don't count Marvel as a non-Disney world, since there may or may not be a chance I'll try to add that in too).**_

_**"Dragon Rider 66", first off, thanks for the reminder regarding Xion and Aqua's last names in this story. I totally meant to mention that in the previous chapter's author's note. Anyways, in Xion's case, it's really just something I've seen a lot of people go with as her last name in a bunch of different stories, and I'm pretty sure it's like a reference to her nature as a replica created from memories. As for Aqua, her last name is the Latin word for mage. I mainly went with that since Aqua's first name is technically the Latin word for water, so it made sense that I would have her last name be of similar origin. Don't worry about Coco and Team CFVY. I will try to get them back in again some time soon, but it won't be for the point you're thinking of. And as for your question about Team JNPR's new looks for the upcoming Volume 7, I think they all look pretty good. I don't have a personal preference as of yet, but I will admit, I did not really notice how much Jaune's new haircut looks like Roxas and Ven's until you said something.**_

_**Ventus: Hey, I honestly wouldn't blame him for taking a few cues from us.**_

_**Roxas: Yeah. We are two of the best looking guys in the Kingdom Hearts series, after all.**_

_**Jaune: Yeah...That's why I'm going with that look now. [rolls his eyes at the other two]**_

_**AN: [rolls his eyes along with Jaune] Ignoring that for now, regarding teammates that Xion could have, you're forgetting that Terra could just as easily be one, given that he's not technically a master yet, even if he is sort of the oldest of the Keyblade wielders, not counting Mickey of course, but right now, there's not really a plan for Xion to have an official team any time soon. It's not like she's going to be participating in the Vytal Festival Tournament or something, ya know.**_

_**"Guest" of 10/9/2019...**_

_**Blake: Ahem, I'll take that one. To answer your question, as far as canon story line has stated, I haven't met any Faunus with a speech problem like Donald's. Though, I think there may have been one or two Faunus who share animal traits with water-based animals that could have it.**_

_**AN: Right. Thank you, Blake. "SuperMarioFreak", I had actually forgotten about the Keyblade that Monty Oum came up with for Namine until you said something about it, but I will probably have Namine gain that particular Keyblade at some point later on. Just gonna have to wait and see, for now. Regarding Sora's possession of the x-blade, or really anything regarding the x-blade itself in this story beyond its history...sorry, that's all top-secret for now. I'm not telling~!**_

_**KH Cast: Of course he's not.**_

_**AN: [lightly chuckles] Ahem, moving on, "Monkey D. Conan", most of your questions are ones that I can't really answer just yet without giving away some major spoilers, I'm afraid, but I will go ahead and say at least this much: Destiny Islands is very likely to be a world that we will be seeing in this story. It's just going to be quite a while before it happens.**_

_**Next to answer is "CT7567Rules". I can confirm that Aqua will be attending the dance when we reach that chapter, but I wouldn't be so sure about Team CFVY being able to attend. Gonna be a little hard for Team RWBY to do anything to set up for said event otherwise. As for Cardin's part in the food fight, I have no idea if it is similar to that scene from Alien, but I can definitely confirm that Genie had no input on it. It was actually something I got from one episode of DBZ Abridged. **_

_**Finally, to the "Guest" of 10/14/2019, I'm pretty sure that I've at least hinted to the fact that I was going to have Pyrrha survive, but as far as Penny goes, I'm afraid that nothing can really be done to change her fate by that much. I'm not saying that Penny's going to be gone for good after that point, but her battle with Pyrrha is definitely going to remain the same as it was in canon for the sake of the story, so no worries. Penny's going to be fine even after Pyrrha turns her into quarters.**_

_**...I'm sorry, but even if the event did happen quite a while back, that joke still doesn't sit right with me. Seriously, it still feels like it's way too soon to be making that joke, or really any joke about what happened to Penny.**_

_**Ruby: How do you think I feel?**_

_**Weiss: Or how a good majority of the rest of us from the RWBY series feel?**_

_**AN: Yeah, I'm just going to move this along before this gets anymore serious or depressing than it already was. In regards to the references that I knowingly worked into the food fight of the previous chapter, I will confirm that there was one from The Prince's Bride, a few from TeamFourStar's DBZA (as I previously mentioned), and there was also one from Transformers The Last Knight as well. The Rex and Hamm reference from Toy Story that "Dragon Rider 66" found...yeah, I hadn't even realized that it could be counted as such until after he mentioned it, so props for that.**_

_**Now, I think we've got everything covered that we wanted to bring up in reference to the previous chapter's reviews, so let's get this show on the road. Pull the lever...! Wait, who's at the manual controls right now?**_

_**Yang: That would be me. [grins evilly at the author]**_

_**AN: Uh-oh! No, wait! I take it back! Don't pull the...!**_

_**Yang: [continues grinning as she intentionally pulls the wrong lever]**_

_**AN: [ends up freezing in a mad rush to reach Yang when a trap door opens under him] Oh nuts. [drops down trap door] WHOOOOOOOOOoooooooaaaaaaaaa!**_

_**Yang: Hehe. Revenge complete.**_

_**Blake: I was wondering about what you were going to do after finally convincing him to let you out of that bunker.**_

_**[wall opens up to allow a stone-encased author to slide back into the room]**_

_**AN: [tries to say something, but voice is ultimately muffled and unintelligible]**_

_**Ruby: Hang on. [uses scythe to make opening in the stone so that author can breathe and speak properly]**_

_**AN: [gasps loudly] Thank you. I said, yeah, I probably should've seen this coming from the moment that she convinced me to let her out. Can someone cue up the disclaimer, please?**_

_**Jaune: I've got it.**_

**_lyokoMARVELanime does not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story._**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Heroes on the Move**

The way that everyone was talking for the next few days or so, you would think that the epic food fight was the stuff of legends. It was not just regarding everything that had happened during said face-off between Teams RWBY and JNPR, and the two halves of Team SLVR that people were talking about though; it was also the fact that all of them had gotten off with nothing more than a mild scolding from Goodwitch, too. Some would say that the three teams might have gotten preferential treatment because of certain members on their teams (meaning Pyrrha and Weiss), but others would argue that it was because the three teams had showcased an improvement in skills and incredible adaptability in various situations. Whatever the case was, the three teams of students were being showered with a great deal of praise wherever they went after classes had started up again. The only problem was, not all of them were able to enjoy it as much as the others.

Team SLVR had been forced to work themselves to the bone in order to make sure that none of their friends were left alone with Aqua over the course of that very same time period, since they knew that Aqua had a plethora of embarrassing stories to tell about them to the Remnant locals, and it was not an easy job at all. Distracting Aqua or even getting some of the huntsmen-in-training away from her with a last minute plan was hard enough, but what was harder for them was actually finding all of said individuals before it was too late to do something. More often than not, Sora and his friends found their fellow first year teams laughing up a storm as they sat around Aqua, who could only smile that same mischievous grin she had when she first appeared in the cafeteria after the food fight, and they knew in that same instant that they were likely going to need to hide in shame and embarrassment for a good long while after separating her from their friends. Sure, they knew it was more than likely Aqua's method of revenge against them for not telling her about their newest mission so long ago, but that did not mean that they were willing to let Ruby, Jaune, and their teams find out about their most embarrassing moments if they could help it.

Aqua on the other hand was enjoying herself quite a bit with her revenge against the boys, but she was not so heartless that she only told stories that would leave them wanting to hide in a hole. What the boys did not realize was that she did actually tell everyone a few things that would play up her fellow Keyblade wielders on more than one occasion, be it for the sake of showing just what the guys had been through to get where they are today, to show that they were still just as human as everyone else despite their incredible powers, or for simply playing up to be more impressive to certain parties. Those parties mainly being Ruby, Weiss, and Yang, because Aqua had not failed to notice how Ruby was giving Sora a love-struck gaze much more often than the last time she saw the girl, or how Weiss and Yang's eyes seemed to linger a little longer than normal on Ventus and Lea, respectively. Having realized that those girls were starting to feel something a bit more than friendship for the three Keybearers, Aqua had made it a mission to help speed things along between each pair as much as she could while she was on Remnant, but she knew that her time there was limited, as she still had her duties to all the other worlds, which did include the original reason for her being on Remnant in the first place.

The original reason for Aqua's visit finally came around when a small fleet of Atlas ships arrived with the students that were visiting from said kingdom's huntsmen academy, and as she watched all the airships come in for landing, Aqua could not help but feel a little nervous. "Is all of this really necessary," Aqua finally asked of Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch after several moments of silence. "I mean, I understand that a good deal of things in Atlas are all tied in with one another, from their government, to their military, to even their schools, but this seems more than a little excessive."

"Believe me, Master Aqua, you're not the only one who feels that way," Goodwitch reassured her while grumbling over the same fact. "Even I find it a little trying how Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work wherever he travels."

"Well running an academy and a military makes him a busy man," Ozpin defended to the two, only to turn around and agree with them a second later. "But yes, those are a bit of an eyesore."

"A bit," Aqua questioningly repeated right when something on Ozpin's desk started beeping, signaling that someone had just arrived outside his door and was requesting entry.

Wasting little time, Ozpin called out for their guest to enter, and the doors parted to permit entry to a man in a nearly all-white military uniform, blue dress shirt, red tie, and black boots, while he wore a white glove on one hand with a single bandage over his right eyebrow. "Ozpin," the man happily greeted.

"Hello, General," Ozpin nodded in respectful reply.

"Please, drop the formalities," the general requested as he crossed the room and shook hands with the headmaster. "It's been too long," he then chuckled before turning his gaze to the blonde woman in the room. "And Glynda, it has certainly been too long since we last met."

"Oh James," Goodwitch waved, almost sounding like someone who was ecstatic to meet with someone again before returning to her usual persona. "I'll be outside."

Aqua and the two men watched the deputy headmistress leave for a bit until the general stated, "Well she hasn't changed a bit." That comment and the exchange made Aqua wonder just what the relationship between Goodwitch and the general was, until she realized that said general had now turned his attention to her. "And…I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting until now," he commented.

"Aqua, this is General James Ironwood of Atlas. James, allow me to introduce Master Aqua Magum."

"Master," Ironwood repeated in wonder. "Master of what exactly, if you don't mind my asking Miss Magum?"

Aqua turned a hesitant look to Ozpin, wondering if it would be okay to show him, and when Beacon's headmaster nodded in reply, she raised a hand up before her, and summoned out her trusted Keyblade. Seeing the blade appear in Aqua's hand gave Ironwood quite the start, and Aqua would be lying if she were to say that she did not get some satisfaction from seeing the general thrown off guard by the sight of her weapon. "To answer your question, General, I'm a master of the Keyblade," Aqua finally stated.

"Incredible," Ironwood finally whispered. "Ozpin had told me many stories about the wielders of this blade, but to actually be standing before one and seeing a Keyblade itself…I can't even begin to tell you how great an honor it is."

"And yet you still sound rather surprised," Aqua noted, though her smile made it clear she was still amused by the whole thing.

"Well, after all that I had heard, I never expected that a chosen wielder, let alone a master would be so young. No offense," Ironwood quickly explained.

"None taken," Aqua reassured him. "Believe it or not, I am actually a lot older than I look, and one of my fellow masters is even younger than I am."

"And you may be interested to learn, James, that some of my newest students, an entire team in fact, are also wielders of the Keyblade, all of which are close friends of Aqua's," Ozpin added, taking a rare moment to boast.

Hearing that, Ironwood could not help but joke, "If you're trying to make me jealous, Oz, it is definitely working." As everyone in the room laughed at the remark, Ironwood returned his attention to Aqua and said, "Again, it is an honor to meet you, Master Magum."

"The pleasure is all mine, General, but please, just call me Aqua," the Keyblade master insisted once she had dismissed her Keyblade and shook hands with the general.

"Very well, but only if you call me James," Ironwood insisted, receiving a nod of understanding in return.

Seeing that everyone was now acquainted with one another, Ozpin decided to get right to the heart of the matter, but not before he had poured a cup of coffee for everyone. "So, what in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas, James," Ozpin asked as he passed out mugs filled with the hot drink to everyone. "Headmasters don't typically travel with their students for the Vytal Festival."

"Well, you know how much I love Vale this time of year. Besides, with you hosting, I thought this might be a good opportunity for us to catch up," Ironwood explained away while adding a little something extra to his drink from a canteen that he had in his jacket pocket.

"I can certainly appreciate quality time between friends; however, the small fleet outside my window has me somewhat concerned," Ozpin told his friend as he took his seat at his desk while pouring himself a mug of coffee.

"Well…Concern is what brought them here," Ironwood admitted.

Aqua was understandably skeptical about that claim, but Ozpin seemed like he was able to play it off well enough. "I understand travel between kingdoms has become increasingly difficult, but…"

"Oz, you and I both know why I brought those men," Ironwood interrupted, now much more serious than he had been when he first entered the room.

That made the headmaster of Beacon let out a long sigh after taking a quick sip from his drink, telling Aqua that he did in fact know the general's reason for bringing all of these men with him. "We are in a time of peace," Ozpin reminded his friend. "Shows of power like this are just going to give off the wrong impression."

"But if what Qrow says is true," Ironwood started to protest, only to be the one who was interrupted this time around.

"If what Qrow said is true, then we will handle it tactfully," Ozpin insisted. "It's the Vytal Festival; a time to celebrate unity and peace. So, I suggest you not scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent."

"I'm just being cautious," Ironwood insisted.

"With all due respect, James, two or three ships of soldiers would be acting cautious, but a small fleet like what's currently outside is overkill, no matter what you may be up against," Aqua disputed. "Even if it is necessary to bring as many ships as you have, doing so like this is more likely to scare or worry the people who live here."

"Aqua is right, James, and believe it or not, I am also being cautious," Ozpin added on before James could argue with the young woman. "That is why we will continue to train the best huntsmen and huntresses we can."

"Believe me, I am," Ironwood insisted. "But ask yourself this, Oz: do you honestly believe your children can win a war?"

Ozpin was quiet for a moment, giving all the answer that either of the other two needed, but only Aqua made to comment on it. "If he's like any good teacher, I'm sure he hopes that they would never have to, even if some of them already have fought in a war," the bluenette informed the general, earning her a confirming nod from Ozpin, while Ironwood gave her a curious look. "Those four Keybearers that are currently students of Beacon, myself, and all of our other fellow wielders have very recently just come out of fighting a war for all the worlds, and while we only lost one person, it was still too great of a loss for all of us, some more than others. More than that, some of us also suffered a great deal throughout the conflict."

"And if I recall, it was that one loss that originally brought young Sora, Ventus, Lea, and Roxas here to begin with," Ozpin filled in. "To locate the missing Princess of Heart and return her home, but I'm afraid to say that they have not made much headway in their search."

"That's actually part of the reason why I'm here: to update you on some new information regarding their search, among other things," Aqua admitted.

"You need not say anymore, Aqua. If a Princess of Heart is missing, and if she truly is somewhere on Remnant, then I would be more than happy to lend whatever aid I can in finding her," Ironwood promised. As he had previously stated, he had heard many stories about matters involving the Keyblade from Ozpin, and that included the stories about the Princesses of Heart, so he knew just how important they were to all the worlds.

"That's just it, James; Yen Sid is no longer entirely certain that Kairi is here," Aqua revealed, surprising both headmasters a little. "As I've already told Lea, Roxas, and Ventus, after Ozpin revealed his suspicions about another of the New Seven being on Remnant, Yen Sid did another scan of your world to determine whether or not he had mistaken Kairi's light for this new one, only to find nothing that would suggest that Kairi was here for absolute certainty. Only signs that would suggest that there may be more than one powerful light on Remnant, aside from those of my fellow wielders, or that maybe Kairi was here and…"

Aqua did not need to finish for the other two to understand what she was getting at, and they both hung their heads in sorrow at the implication, letting her know that she did not need to go further than that. That did not stop them from picking up on a few details in what Aqua had just mentioned. "You mentioned that only told this to three of the four who were sent here," Ironwood suddenly noted. "What of the fourth one?"

"No, we can't tell him about this. Not yet," Aqua insisted. "Kairi holds a very important and special place in Sora's heart, and when he realized that one of the only ways we had of bringing her back was no longer viable, he was crushed. What's worse is that he shut himself off from everyone around him while throwing himself into training, and if you knew the kind of person Sora is, you would know just how bad that alone is. If we were to tell him about this now, there may be no chance of bringing him back to his old self."

"So if Yen Sid's hunch was not truly as strong as he would have liked, then why have the boys remain here, or even send you and young Xion," Ozpin asked.

"Xion came because she wanted to see her boyfriend after being apart from each other for several months," Aqua clarified. "In regards to the boys, they're here to make absolutely certain of whether Kairi is here or not, and in the worst case scenario, help Sora to…to move on from her." She had to pause after that in order to collect herself, still not quite able to rest easy after saying that, but she was able to get it together again a little more quickly now. "As for myself, there are a few reasons. For one thing, I was tasked with giving you both this information and getting an update on your own search efforts for the new Princess of Heart you claimed was here, along with any other updates you have regarding that other fight you're currently facing."

Ozpin nodded in reply before saying, "As you've no doubt learned from listening to mine and James's exchange, one of my agents, Qrow Branwen, has discovered some new information: an infiltrator known only as Queen has someone working for them, and that's all the more reason why we need to locate this person and try to stop whatever it is they may be planning for Beacon, Vale, or really any other place in Remnant, even if it is most likely this kingdom."

"And the new Princess of Heart," Ironwood asked before Aqua had the chance to. Not that you could blame him for being a little eager for that information. He was just as curious about those details as Aqua was.

This drew a little more of a smile onto Ozpin's face, as he stated, "With every passing day, I've grown more and more certain that she is who I suspect her to be. After all, she is a very pure and honest soul, who only wishes to do whatever she can to help others, whether it is as a huntress or as a friend, but as I'm sure you know, Aqua, we can't be entirely sure until something happens that would confirm that for all of us."

Aqua nodded, knowing exactly what Ozpin meant by that after she had learned about how Sora discovered that Queen Elsa and his sister, Princess Anna were both Princesses of Heart, but still, she had to voice a concern over this plan. "I just hope that whatever it is that gives us our final proof won't be something that proves too much for her and those she's close with to handle."

Ozpin lowered his head at that, before he muttered, "Believe me, I'm praying for the exact same thing."

* * *

"You know, I was under the impression that we were all going to be coming here to study," Ventus remarked from the desk he and his team were sitting at, books scattered about his section of the table.

"We did, and we are," Lea informed the blonde.

"Said the man who's playing games on his Scroll," Ventus accused, pointing at said device, which he could clearly see a game going on.

Lea just shrugged in response as he checked to make sure no prying eyes and ears could catch what he was about to say, and replied, "Well, I can't exactly play games on my Gummiphone right now, now can I?"

The only response Ventus had was to roll his eyes at the redhead, which gained the attention of his fellow blonde, who was also the only other person at their table who was actually studying school notes. "If it makes you feel any better, at least he's not the only one who's shirking on their assignments for some game," Roxas told the blonde while indicating the tables that both Teams RWBY and JNPR were sitting at, each doing their own thing, most of which, did not consist of studying like he said.

"Honestly, it doesn't by that much," Ventus replied before turning to his partner. "But it probably would help if our leader got everyone back on track."

"Maybe you should consider studying something that's actually important like we're supposed to be. Namely the notes Xion made in her own search efforts regarding a certain missing friend," Sora quietly snapped back like clockwork as he flipped to the next page of said notes while going over things that he had recently written down in his own search efforts.

The other boys all flinched back, with Ventus feeling like he probably should have expected that, and wisely went quiet afterwards. Clearly Sora was in one of his moods right now, and since the guys were all smart, they were not going to try and push him right now. Thankfully, something else happened that kept their part of the library from entering an uncomfortable silence, and it was no surprise that it was provided by a certain huntress who was about to make her move in the battle that she was waging with her teammates.

"Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle," Ruby declared from her end of the board game that she and her teammates were playing.

"Bring it on," Yang challenged, just as into the game as her sister was.

"I deploy…the Atlesian Air Fleet," Ruby dramatically announced, eliciting a similar gasp from her sister. "Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly!"

"You fiend," Yang shot back while her sister just commenced with a series of airplane noises to better illustrate her attack.

"And since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time only lasts one turn," Ruby finished explaining her move, confident that she had claimed a victory in the board game until her sister suddenly started laughing.

"Pretty sneaky, Sis, but you've just activated my trap card," Yang revealed, flipping over the very card she was activating.

"Whaaaaaaaaa!"

"Giant Nevermore," Yang shouted, making the Keybearers wonder why no one had tried to hush the two girls into silence yet with how loud they were being. "If I roll a seven or higher, Fatal Feathers will slice your fleet in two."

"But, if you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces," Ruby reminded.

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take."

Hearing the two sisters battle it out over their board game, Lea could not help but sigh as he remarked, "You may complain about my video gaming, Ven, but at least my game does not require such dramatizations and loud battle cries!"

"Seriously, maybe you guys should consider doing some actual school work like we all said we were going to do, or at least something a little quieter," Roxas added on.

"Hey! I've done nothing but school work since classes started up, and even in Combat Class, I haven't had a chance to punch something. Shut up, give me a break, and let me play this game!" Yang demanded of the two.

"Okay, okay! Geez! Chill out," Roxas instantly backed off. After a moment silence though, which was only filled with the two sisters continuing their dramatic play-through of their game, he turned to his best friend and said, "Dude, seriously, why do you always fall for the crazy ones?"

"Uh, Ruby cuddles with her scythe, which is also a gun, and you're saying that Yang's the crazy one," Lea questioned. "Besides, nothing wrong with being an adventurous free spirit."

Roxas and Ventus both rolled their eyes and glanced over at Team JNPR's table, wondering how they were not going crazy from listening to all of this going on. Ren they could understand, seeing as he had grown up with Nora, who was currently asleep, explaining how she was able to deal with it, but Jaune and Pyrrha were a different story. From the look of things though, it seemed like they were both absorbed in their own readings, but when Pyrrha noticed that Jaune was studying a comic book as opposed to his textbooks, she did pause long enough so she could make sure her partner focused on the right reading materials instead. Of course, since he dropped his head to focus on his textbook, Jaune just missed how Pyrrha grinned a little as she turned to read the very comic she had just gently pulled away from him. Not that he would have the chance to call her a hypocrite, since one of Ruby's game pieces suddenly bounced off his head soon after he had turned to the new book.

"Oh, and what's this? The Smugglers of Wind Path," Yang taunted.

"BAH! BAH, I SAY," Ruby spat.

"Looks like I'm taking two cards from your hand," Yang merely grinned in response.

"HAVE YOU NO HEART?!" poor Ruby despairingly moaned before she just dropped her head onto the table, her turn having finally come to its rather disastrous end. "Noooo…"

"Well Weiss, it's your turn," Yang then prompted, ignoring Ruby's overdramatic display of sorrow in favor of moving the game along.

"Finally! Someone who will play the game a little more calmly gets to go," Sora irritably muttered. Even he was starting to get a little annoyed and distracted by the commotion of the girls' board game.

"I have…Absolutely no idea what's going on," Weiss admitted not even a second later, making the boys wonder how she had even been convinced to play in the first place.

"Look it's easy," Yang insisted as she slid over to give Weiss a hand, while subtly preparing her own counter strategy as she looked over her opponent's hand. "You're playing as Vacuo, which means all Vacuo-based cards come with a bonus."

"That sounds dumb."

"No, it sounds like something that makes perfect sense," Lea protested, taking a break from his video game to see how badly Weiss failed this round, having been very amused in some of her previous turns.

While Weiss was sparing a moment to glare at the redhead for his remark, which she was sure was another jab at her intelligence, Yang went on to examine the various cards in her hand, until she finally spotted something that could use. "Oh! Oh! Resourceful Raider," Yang exclaimed, pulling Weiss's attention to the card in question. "See now you can take Ruby's discarded air fleet…"

"Nooooo…" Ruby whined, wondering why her sister was picking on her so much in this game, while Sora just shot a look at the blonde sister, silently telling her to leave Ruby alone. Not that Yang seemed to notice, since she was so busy focusing on helping Weiss with the game.

"…and put it in your hand," Yang finished.

"Okay…?" Weiss nodded, showing she was just barely following along.

"And since Vacuo warriors have an endurance boost against natural hazards, you can use Sandstorm to disable my ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate my kingdom," Yang continued on. She then pointed at her white haired teammate warningly as she added, "Just know that I will not forget this declaration of war."

"And that means…" Weiss prompted, still feeling a little lost.

"You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant," Ruby sniffled.

Hearing that prompted Weiss to finally get in on the act, though the Keybearers were left a little scared by the character that Weiss chose to portray in this instant, especially since it started off with an evil laugh. "YES! Fear the almighty power of my forces! Cower as they pillage your homes and weep as they take your children from your very arms…!"

"Oh my god, Ice Princess! Are you sure you don't moonlight as a villain or something," Lea questioned in a panic at just how realistic that sounded.

"Seriously! Somebody do something to make her stop," Roxas pleaded, having been sufficiently distracted from his own studies by the show that was unfolding over a simple board game.

Despite his continued attempts to focus on his work, Ventus was still getting interested in this as well, and had to agree with Roxas on this. It did not matter how cute Weiss was as she opened herself up to having some fun with this game right now; this was quite frankly a little too scary for his tastes. _'Wait, cute? Where did that come from,'_ Ventus mentally questioned.

Thankfully, Ventus was distracted when Roxas's pleas were answered by Yang saying two simple words. "Trap card," the blonde brawler revealed, making Weiss stop short so that she could see Yang rearranging the pieces on the board in response to her trap. "Your armies have been destroyed."

Weiss instantly slumped back down into her chair, crying just as much as Ruby when she said, "I hate this game of emotions we play!"

_'No kidding,'_ Ventus agreed in his head as he tried to stomp down any urge to get up and comfort Weiss. _'I think Aqua's little teases about me and Weiss are starting to get to me a little.'_

Even if Ventus was going to get up and comfort Weiss, someone else ended up beating him to it, as the next thing the heiress knew, Ruby jumping into her lap with a tight hug, still letting some tears fall as she said, "Stay strong, Weiss. We'll make it through this together."

"Shut up! Don't touch me," Weiss snapped at her partner, even though she still pulled Ruby closer to her.

Lea just stared at the two weeping girls for a minute before he finally said, "You know, sometimes I wonder how a pair as dysfunctional as those two could possibly operate as partners, and then something like this happens that makes me think they're perfect for each other. Though not as perfect as Ruby and…"

"One more word and I will make you EAT your chakrams while they are on fire. And not just a regular fire; this will be one that even you can't put out with your powers," Sora threateningly growled, having a very good idea about just where Lea was going with that statement.

Lea raised his hands in surrender, knowing that in his current mood, Sora would more than likely follow through on his threat, while over at Team RWBY's table, Yang was basking in her victories as she turned to her partner and declared, "Alright Blake, you're up!"

"Huh?" Blake asked with a start, her mind clearly having been miles away until she had heard her name. "Oh! Umm…Sorry, what am I doing?"

"You're playing as Vale, trying to conquer the kingdoms of Remnant," Yang reminded while the rest of their team finally straightened up from their act and returned to their seats.

"Right…" Blake muttered, wondering not for the first time how she was roped into playing this board game.

Just when Blake was about to ask Ruby for an assist on this, knowing better than to be like Weiss and let Yang help her, Jaune suddenly appeared at their table and asked, "Hey, can I play?"

"Sorry Jaune, we've already got four people," Ruby apologized, informing him on the limit of players allowed in the game.

"Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt you possess," Weiss added on, subtly insulting the blonde knight when she did.

"If that's the case, then why are you playing," Lea jabbed back in Jaune's defense.

"He has a point, considering you attacked your own naval fleet two turns ago," Yang reminded Weiss before she could shoot back at Lea.

While Weiss had no comeback for the two's jabs, Jaune did have one of his own loaded and ready for her earlier comment. "Bring it on, Ice Queen! I'll have you know that I've been told that I'm a natural, born leader."

"By who? Your mother," Weiss questioned, although at this point, it was starting to seem like she was being a little more playful with her remarks.

That one got Jaune a little flustered, as he stuttered out, "A-and Lea, and Roxas, and of course, Pyrrha!"

"Hello again," Pyrrha waved from where she was sitting.

_'Geez! That girl is way too good to him. How has he not figured it out yet,'_ was the shared thought of literally everyone other than Jaune and Pyrrha. Even Sora, as absorbed as he was in his study of his and Xion's search notes was wondering that very same thing.

"Come on, let me play your hand for a turn," Jaune prompted.

"I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo," Weiss denied.

"Why not?! You've trusted me with way more important stuff before," Jaune defended before going into some examples, after making sure that no one was listening in. "Like the fact that Team SLVR is from so far away it's like their homes are a whole _world_ away, and you told us all that Blake is secretly a Fau…"

"Fun-loving person whom we all admire and respect," Pyrrha quickly covered up as she slapped a hand over Jaune's mouth before he could finish.

The Keybearers on the other hand, appreciated Jaune's attempt subtlety when talking about their origins, but that did not stop them from shooting him looks for nearly letting Blake's secret slip out as well. Not that they could compete with the glare Blake was throwing at all of them right then while her teammates and friends just smiled back or chuckled nervously. Clearly she had not given anyone the okay to tell Jaune and his team about her secret, and it did not seem like it was without good reason. Team SLVR was just glad that Jaune had not let their secret slip out as easily as he nearly had Blake's.

"Right…That," Jaune nervously muttered, hoping to think of some way to salvage this. When he failed to do so, he decided to simply bow to the girls and excuse himself, saying, "Ladies, enjoy your battle."

"'Sup losers," someone suddenly said right when Jaune and Pyrrha were turning to go back to their table, making everyone turn to see that another person had joined their little group.

"And the monkey boy is here now," Sora grumbled under his breath. He was not trying to be rude, but he was starting to get annoyed with how everyone was getting so close to distracting him from his research.

"Hey Sun," Ruby greeted much more politely.

"Ruby, Yang, Blake, Sora, Roxas, Ventus," Sun happily greeted in return. "Ice Queen, Flame-Brain…"

"Why does everyone keep calling me that," Weiss demanded.

Lea on the other hand just rolled his eyes at his nickname, having already accepted he was stuck with it, but he could not resist the cue that Weiss had just given it. "Yeah, I mean, sure, she fights with ice and is cold to practically everyone around her, but you really shouldn't call her that," Lea started off, making everyone think he was sort of standing up for Weiss. Until he finished his statement. "She's really more of an Ice Princess."

"Why you…!" Weiss started to challenge.

Thankfully, Sun stepped in with his reason for seeking them out before Weiss and Lea could continue their latest round of fire and ice duels. "I never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend," Sun said, gesturing to Neptune as he did.

"Uh…aren't libraries for reading," Neptune questioned.

"THANK YOU," Ren cried out all of a sudden, showing that he was reaching his wit's end with all of this.

"Pancakes," Nora snorted as she suddenly woke up, making everyone pause for a second.

"Shut up. Don't be a nerd," Sun nudged.

"Geh, geh, geh, geh! Intellectual. Okay. Thank you," Neptune corrected.

"I like this guy," Ventus nodded in approval, having used that same statement a few times before whenever someone called him out for studying too much. "Nice to meet you, uh…"

"I'm Neptune. And you guys are the Key-sword users, right? Like Xion," Neptune questioned.

"Uh it's Key_blade_, actually, but yeah, that's us," Ventus gently corrected with his confirmation.

"So, Neptune, where are you from," Weiss asked.

"Haven," Neptune replied as he made his way around the table so that he was standing closer to the heiress who asked a charming smile forming on his face all the way over. "And I don't believe I've caught your name, Snow Angel."

Knowing that someone had used that name on her before, everyone was sure that Weiss would brush him off like she had Jaune. To everyone's surprise though, Weiss's face actually gained a slight dusting of pink to it as she answer the blue-haired boy's question, proving that Neptune actually managed to pull off the charming approach a lot better than Jaune had. "Uh…I'm Weiss," the heiress replied.

"Are you kidding me," Jaune whispered in slightly outraged disbelief.

"Pleasure to meet you," Neptune nodded, his charm not dropping at all, much to Weiss's smiling pleasure, and Ventus's scowling displeasure.

_'I take it back. I _don't_ like this guy,'_ Ventus thought to himself, subconsciously tightening his hold on a book he was currently looking through.

Neptune was not the only one turning on the charm though, as Sun was quick to approach Blake once again, not that anyone was too surprised. "I never took you as the board-game-playing type," Sun admitted, thinking that could give him an opening for getting to know the cat Faunus a little better.

Sadly, his attempt ended up being a shot in the dark, as Blake chose that moment to fold her hand and said, "Right…Well, I think I'm done playing, actually. I'll see you guys later."

Everyone watched Blake go after that, all wondering just what it was that had been bothering her just now. No one had failed to notice that she was preoccupied with something, but Blake did not seem like she was too willing to talk about it right now, so they had not tried to press the issue. Not that there would have been any problems in doing so, like with Sora, but after that whole episode she had that led to revealing her identity as a Faunus, they did not want to try and force her into anything she was uncomfortable with.

After a few seconds though, it ended up being Nora who finally commented on Blake's sudden departure and odd attitude, and in a way that no one had expected. "Women," she shrugged.

"Did she actually just say that," Lea questioned.

"And I thought you had weird tastes in women," Roxas said to his best friend. "Ren, you definitely picked a weird one."

Ren was about to ask what he meant by that, when Ruby asked, "Well, does anyone want to take over for Blake? It looks like we've got an open spot now."

Jaune was about to volunteer again, when Weiss suggested, "Why not let Neptune try?"

"Oh trust me, you don't want to do that. Neptune is the ultimate, board game champion, especially at this game. He'll eat you guys alive just like he does to our team," Sun insisted.

"Well then, how about you, Sora," Ruby asked, making the rest of Team SLVR brace themselves for the oncoming outburst.

"Can't now. I've gotta focus on more important things," Sora brushed off, not even looking up from his notes, but that did not stop the others from breathing a sigh of relief at how he had kept calm when he answered Ruby.

"Dude, you're being even more antisocial than Blake tends to be, lately. Just take a break and play the game with us," Yang prompted, hoping to get some of the more playful Sora out. She knew that he was in there, based on their first meeting and the things she had learned about from spending time with Lea and the rest of Team SLVR, so she figured there was no harm in giving him a little push.

This time, Sora was ready to bite back, but thankfully, Ventus recognized this as a good opportunity to get some of the old Sora back, and stepped in before his leader could say anything. "Yang, if he said he doesn't want to, then don't try and make him," Ventus started off as calmly as possible, before he switched to a more challenging tactic. "It's not his fault if he's scared that he'll horribly lose."

The results were just what Ventus was hoping for. "Excuse me," Sora asked as he slowly turned from the notes around him to his blonde partner. "What did you just say?"

"Hey, there's no shame in admitting it. We all know that you're horrible at board games, or really any games that don't involve racing or fighting," Ventus shrugged, still maintaining his playful mocking tone.

"Am not," Sora disputed.

"I mean, just thinking about how bad you did the first time you played some of those games on your Scroll makes me feel like you're being smart in turning down the offer. You're already saving yourself the embarrassment of losing," Ventus continued on, acting like Sora had not said anything.

"Am not!" Sora repeated. "I'll have you know that I rock at board games! Or did you forget about what happened when you first challenged me to a round on the Command Boards?"

"You mean how you had such a pathetic start and finish for several games in a row before just barely scraping out a win," Ventus inquired.

"Who's first time playing are you remembering? Mine or Axel's," Sora questioned, seeing as that was exactly what happened the first time the redhead had tried out said game. "Because I recall utterly kicking all of your butts several times over, until you all just decided to rage-quit!"

"Ooh! Big talk, Mister Scardey-Cat. Too bad you can't back it up," Yang challenged, having caught on to what Ven was doing.

That proved to be the last straw for Sora, as he simply slapped his notes down on the table, shot up from his seat, marched over to where Blake had just been sitting, and planted himself at the table while scooping up the folded hand. "Prepare to face a crushing taste of humility, Xiao Long," Sora declared. "I'm sure I've got plenty left over from when Ruby and I basically won that entire food fight for our team just for you and anyone else foolish enough to question me."

"Bring it on, Island-Boy," Yang accepted, with Ruby and Weiss both grinning in equal excitement, eager to see just how good Sora would be at this game.

As the others watched from the sidelines, Roxas leaned over to Lea and whispered, "Two hundred Munny says Sora pretty much dominates at this game, but not before he utterly crushes Yang as payback for how she was picking on Ruby earlier on."

"Oh no! Not this time, buddy! I've learned my lesson," Lea denied, only to get a skeptical gaze from his best friend. "Don't look at me like that! I am NOT taking anymore bets with you!"

"Hey, if you guys are betting on how this will go, I'll take a piece of that action," Sun offered. "How much and what're we betting."

Roxas repeated the circumstances, making sure to change to appropriate amount of Lien when he did, and Sun readily agreed, while Lea just rolled his eyes as he muttered something that sounded like poor fool. What he did not realize was that Sun's acceptance had actually gotten the ball rolling on many more bets from everyone that was not playing the game, and a lot of them were really good ones, too. Eventually, Lea finally cracked and said, "Alright, I'm in."

"I knew you'd come around," Roxas grinned knowingly while he mentally snickered to himself about how gullible the others were, but mostly in the case of Lea.

* * *

That night when everyone finally left to return to their dorms, most everyone did with at least a small frown. A majority of them did so because they had lost their bets to Roxas, but while Ruby and Weiss were at least smiling a little bit from how the game turned out, Yang was clearly upset by the whole thing. "Ugh! We should never have let him play," Yang insisted as she and the rest of the girls walked into their room.

"You're just mad 'cause Sora beat you," Ruby laughed teasingly.

"I think it'd be more accurate to say that I utterly destroyed you," Sora corrected with an easy-going smile. "And then went on to win the whole game."

"A very impressive showing, I will admit," Weiss confessed, having been caught off guard by how quickly Sora had learned the ropes of the game when she had been having such a hard time. "Did you play it before?"

"Nope, that was my first time," Sora shrugged while taking his usual relaxed pose.

"It's true," Ventus confirmed for the girls. "Now can we finally do that group study session like we were supposed to in the library?"

"No! Too mad to study now," Yang huffed, clearly putting on an overdramatized act that made Ventus roll his eyes even more than her response had.

"Well, there's nothing that says we can't still hang out, so long as the professors don't catch us," Lea joked with a sly wink in Yang's direction.

Seeing that wink quickly told Yang what Lea really meant when he said hang-out, and while the others who also understood shivered a little in disgust, it seemed that it went flying well over both Ruby and Sora's heads. Everyone was very thankful for that, but not quite as thankful as they were when Ruby returned to teasing her sister over how great her defeat was. "You know Yang, if you had just attacked when I told you, none of this would've happened," Ruby reminded her sister.

"Actually it wouldn't have made any difference at all, other than ensuring Yang would've been beaten a lot sooner," Sora informed her. "Or did you forget about that trap card I had ready and waiting to go?"

"You mean the one you used to stop Ruby's attack on your forces? If you had used it then, you would've left yourself open to defeat by the mighty Rose," Yang pointed out.

"No I wouldn't. I had two of that exact same card in play," Sora revealed, much to Yang and Ruby's disbelief.

"Seriously, how were you so good at that game?! And for your first time playing it," Yang demanded loud enough to the point where she would probably have agitated a few nearby Grimm if she raised her voice any higher.

"If you figure it out, let us know. We've been trying to solve the mystery of how Sora is so good at any game he plays even if he's never played it before for ages," Roxas told her before Sora could answer.

"And by 'we' he means us and all the rest of our friends with Keyblades, or who just know the full story about us," Lea clarified for everyone.

Weiss would have added a few points of her own to this conversation, had she noticed that the fourth occupant of Team RWBY's room had been suspiciously quiet and was about to leave again without a word. "Stop," Weiss ordered, making Blake freeze in her tracks and alerting everyone to the situation as well. "Lately you've been quiet, anti-social, and moody."

"Uh…have you met Blake," Yang asked.

"Yeah, that's kind of her thing. She's the quiet, mysterious one, Yang's loud, fun one, Ruby's the young, innocent one, and you're the cold, mean one," Lea added on, taking a moment to fire off another shot at Weiss.

"Thank you for that, Flame-Brain. The point has been made," Weiss snapped in return. She then cleared her throat and returned to the previous line of conversation. "As I was saying, I get that being quiet is kind of your 'thing,' but you've been doing it more than usual, which quite frankly, is unacceptable."

"Yeah, especially since Sora's been acting like he's trying to turn into a second one of you, only with the addition of having a bigger chip on his shoulder than even I've ever had," Roxas whispered.

"I heard that," Sora shot at the dual-Keyblade wielder. He quickly calmed down though, as he said, "But Weiss does have a bit of a point."

"She does," everyone other than Ruby, Weiss, Roxas, and Blake exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah, she does," Sora confirmed, focusing all of his attention on Blake when he next spoke. "You made a promise to all of us that you would let us know if there was something bothering you, or if something was wrong."

"Exactly," Weiss nodded, and then, as if to continue the dramatics that had been taking place today, Weiss suddenly jumped up in the air, and landed on a chair so that she was standing over Blake as she pointed down at the black haired girl and demanded, "So Blake Belladonna, WHAT. IS. WRONG?!"

Everyone remained silent as they stared at Weiss, until she quickly dismounted from the chair she was standing on top, quickly returned it to the desk it was originally sitting at, and then went right back to where she had been originally standing like nothing weird had happened. "Okay, I'll admit it. That was impressive," Lea confessed, not able to put any kind of negative spin on the sight.

"Thank you," Weiss nodded proudly, but she did not avert her attention from the teammate she was just questioning.

Seeing how everyone was now so focused on her, and yet still showing that it was only because they were worried certainly seemed to help Blake open up about the very thing that Weiss was asking her to talk about. "I just…I don't understand how everyone can be so calm," Blake finally admitted, leaving little guesswork about what she was referring to.

"You're still thinking about Torchwick," Ruby asked, since the bothersome crook had been on her mind quite a bit as well.

"The guy was somehow able to take command of not just average Dusks, but Snipers as well. I'd be a little more concerned if one of us wasn't bothered enough to keep thinking about him right now," Lea pointed out, suddenly sounding a lot more serious than playful.

"Torchwick, the White Fang, the Dusks, all of it," Blake clarified. "Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it!"

"Um, excuse me," Sora cut in while waving to the secret Faunus and everyone else in the room. "Hi, the name's Sora, wielder of the Keyblade. You've probably heard about me and my friends, and how we deal with things like Heartless and Nobodies on a regular basis, including right now, seeing as their appearance here has made it all the more important for us to find our missing friend."

"He's got a point," Roxas admitted. "Besides, Xion and Aqua are also looking into the how and why Torchwick was able to take command of any Nobodies like that, along with the reasons for why the Heartless have suddenly become more active again so soon after the Second Keyblade War had ended. Not to mention all the rest of our friends who are investigating the latter from where they are on other worlds."

"Besides, Ozpin told us not to worry. Between the police, the huntsmen, and our mighty Keyblade wielders here, including Xion and Aqua, I'm sure they can handle it," Yang reasoned.

"Well I'm not! They don't know the White Fang like I do, and they don't know Nobodies like Roxas and Lea do," Blake argued.

"Again, Xion's helping with this, and she knows Nobodies just as well as Roxas does. Maybe not as well as I do, but still," Lea pointed out.

"And can you say the same about Aqua knowing them? Or that she or Aqua know the White Fang like I do," Blake challenged.

That got everyone to silently exchange uncertain looks, as they knew Blake had them there, but it was not quite enough for everyone to be convinced that what she was driving towards was a good idea. "Okay," Weiss said. "Between blowing up night clubs, stopping thieves, saving entire worlds, and fighting for freedom and to keep darkness from destroying all that we know and love, I'm sure that all of you think you're all ready to go out and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells…"

"Uh…who," Ruby asked.

"The bad guys," Ventus supplied for her.

"…But let me once again be the voice of reason," Weiss continued on.

"You? The voice of reason? Well, we're all in trouble then," Lea griped. "Hey Sora, is Jiminy Cricket still hanging around in your jacket by any chance? I mean, he is an official conscience and all, so I think we'd get much more benefit from his input than we would with Weiss."

Weiss merely rolled her eyes, not knowing that Lea's latter statement was in fact true, and continued on with what she was saying before. "We're students. We're not ready to handle this sort of situation."

"You do remember that whole 'saving entire worlds' thing you just mentioned about us a second ago, right," Sora asked of the heiress. "Maybe you guys have only done it once, but the four of us have doing it for years now."

"Some of us more than others," Roxas muttered.

"We're more than ready to handle a situation like this," Sora continued on.

"Maybe you are, but _we're_ not," Weiss insisted while waving to her team.

"Says who," Sora asked, and without even thinking about it, or possibly even realizing it, he then launched into a whole speech on the matter. "The thing about being a hero, or taking on jobs like this is that you never really know for sure when you're ready for it. You think the bad guys are going to wait until you all graduate to make their move, or that the Heartless are just going to slink away into the shadows until someone decides that we can handle anything? Because let me tell you something, whoever the bad guy may be, they don't care if you're ready or even if you want to take on the responsibility. I never asked to get the Keyblade or for any of the stuff that's involved with it, but I was still chosen, and I had absolutely no clue on how to do anything with it way back then. That didn't stop the Heartless from coming after me, and whether you're ready or not won't stop Torchwick and whoever he's working with from carrying out whatever their planning. So instead of just waiting for them to hit us, maybe we should at least consider going after them first."

The boys all knew what Sora was really hoping to do by rolling with this idea. He was thinking that going after Torchwick and his partners would help them to either get some new information about Kairi that they would not be able to get just by searching around in Beacon's library or anywhere else in Vale, and in failing that, it would at least slow them down a little so that they had a little more time to find the missing Princess of Heart, assuming there was anything of her to find on Remnant. Still, they had to admit, it was a pretty good idea, and if it helped ease Blake of her worries while guaranteeing that all of RWBY was kept safe in what they were no doubt about to undertake, then all the better, so they could not help but nod in silent approval, both for how moving his speech was, and for the plan itself.

Even if she did not know about the underlying plan Sora had, Ruby was still just as on board with Sora's idea as the others. "Sora's right," Ruby agreed. "So…All in favor of becoming the youngest huntresses to single-handedly bring down a corrupt organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale while assisting in a Keyblade wielder mission to stop that same organization from possibly using dangerous creatures against the world of Remnant as a whole…say 'aye'!"

None of the boys were sure what was more impressive and/or weirder. How eager and excited Ruby seemed to be over taking on this mission, or how she seemed to have said all of that in one breath. Not that it stopped anyone from going along with the hype she had just stirred up. "Yes!" Yang cheered as she turned to her partner. "I love it when you're feisty!"

"Well, I suppose it could be fun," Weiss admitted, showing her support of this.

"Count us in," Lea declared as he waved to himself and Roxas, who merely nodded his confirmation.

"Like you even need to ask," Ventus questioned with a smile.

"None of you said 'aye'," Ruby muttered, a little upset that no one went along with her on that.

Apparently someone had overheard her woeful muttering, as the only person to not voice his support of taking action then raised his hand and said, "Aye."

Ruby turned to face the person in question, and was left feeling very giddy with happiness at seeing that at least Sora had gone along with her in that, and seeing her leader and Sora smiling at one another over something that simple, combined with how everyone seemed to be in agreement to help her get answers, definitely raised Blake's mood significantly. "Alright then," Blake nodded. "We're in this together."

"Let's hatch a plan," Ruby declared.

"Yeah," Yang, Sora, and Lea all agreed.

Just before they could do anything of the sort, Ruby let out a horrified gasp, making everyone worried. "What is it? What's wrong," Sora quickly asked.

"I left my board game in the library," Ruby revealed with a tone of dread in her voice.

"We're doomed," Weiss sighed, placing a hand to her forehead in exasperation.

"I wouldn't say that just yet, but…" Ventus attempted to reassure her, but his optimism was waning a little, given how he had trailed off there.

Ruby immediately raced out of the room, promising she would be right back before anyone could stop her, but that did not mean Sora was not going to try. After all, he did not want Ruby to get into any trouble for racing around like that. Too bad for him that he was a little late in responding to her frantic rushing, because Ruby ended up crashing into someone not long after she was a few feet away from her team's room. "Oh…Sorry," Ruby apologized, now a little embarrassed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just watch where you're going," the person ran into reassured Ruby as she helped the younger girl up.

"Oh…Right…Sorry," Ruby muttered in response.

"Yeah, I know you're probably already tired of hearing this, but sorry about my friend. She's very easily excitable," Sora said as he took in the people that Ruby had bumped into. Looking at them all, Sora saw that their group consisted of two girls and one boy, the first girl having medium-brown skin and mint-green hair, the boy pale, yet well-built and with grey hair, and the second girl possessing fair skin, ashen black hair, and bright amber eyes. The thing that really stuck out to Sora though, was how, even though they were clearly wearing school uniforms, they were not the ones that Beacon students normally wore. "Say, are you guys new here?"

"Visiting from Haven, actually," the amber-eyed girl revealed as she stepped forward to better address Sora and Ruby.

For some reason as she looked into this girl's eyes, Ruby could not help but pick up on a sense of familiarity, almost like she had seen those very eyes somewhere before. No matter how hard she thought about it though, she just could not seem to place where that could have been, so she brushed it off as her imagination, and focused on what she just heard instead. "Ooooooh! You're here for the festival," Ruby cheered. "Oh, but exchange students have their own dormitory."

"I guess we just got turned around," the boy shrugged.

"No big deal. I still sometimes have trouble finding my way around in this place without map too," Sora waved off. At that point, he finally remembered his manners and said, "Oh, by the way, I'm Sora, and this is Ruby."

"Sora? As in Weapon Master Sora," the ashen-haired girl questioned.

"Yeah, that's me," Sora hesitantly chuckled. "Still not used to that new nickname," he could not help but mutter soon after.

"Wow! We've heard a lot about you just from the short time that we've already been here, but who would have thought we'd run into one of the best first year students by complete accident on our first day here," the boy exclaimed. "Though I gotta admit, somehow I pictured you being a little…bigger."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Sora shrugged. "So…what're your names?"

"I'm Emerald," the green-haired girl finally introduced while indicating both herself and her teammates. "And this is Mercury and Cinder."

"Nice to meet you guys," Ruby nodded in greeting. "Now, about your dorm…"

"Yeah, we could use a little help in finding it," Emerald immediately accepted before Ruby could ask the question.

"No problem. Your building is just east of here."

"Thanks. Maybe we'll see you two around," Cinder nodded to the two as she and her team headed out.

"Yeah, maybe," Ruby agreed, excited for a chance to hang out with more students that were visiting from other schools. "Oh, and welcome to Beacon!"

The three Haven students said nothing to indicate that they had heard Ruby's greeting or not, but as they left, Sora could not help but feel an odd flash at the edge of his senses that set him a little on edge to the point where he ended up watching them leave with a narrow gaze. One that Ruby did not miss. "What's the matter," she asked.

"I'm not sure…but I could've sworn that I felt something…odd about one or all three of those guys," Sora told her. "Something…dark."

"What does that mean," Ruby questioned, now a little worried.

"Like I said, I don't know, but…maybe we should try to be careful around them in the future, just to be safe," Sora reasoned as he turned to continue on to the library with Ruby. "Come on, let's go get your board game so we can come back and try to come up with something of a plan before we have to call it a night."

"Yeah…okay," Ruby nodded. She was not sure how she felt about treating people who seemed so nice like they were potential suspects, but she trusted Sora enough to feel it was safer to be cautious about them, so she decided to take his advice for now.

* * *

The rest of the week seemed to pass by rather slowly for the two teams. It was only natural, given that they had quite the exciting Friday night planned out, but if you were to ask any of Team RWBY, they would say that the week was going especially slow. The same could be said for all of their classes, as even Weiss was watching the clock for the moment when their last class of the day finally let out, all the way up until Friday. Then again, given that their last Friday class was with Professor Port, you could not blame any of them, but either way, they were all eager to get their investigation mission underway, and they were all determined to make sure that they were as prepared for it as possible.

When that Friday afternoon finally came around, one would learn that part of those preparations was apparently a change of outfits from their regular mission/casual clothes. Sora and the guys did not really understand why it was necessary to change outfits for this one mission, seeing as how they had each always worn the exact same thing for every mission and only changed things up if they were going to a specific world or beginning a whole new adventure, so when Yang mentioned doing this, they all thought it was a little silly. That had prompted a whole monologue from Weiss and Ruby about why changing their outfits was necessary in this instance that really could have been summarized by saying that it was to prevent anyone from recognizing them too easily. Sure, a change of clothes was not really going to make much difference, but if people saw them taking on an unofficial mission using their regular outfits, it would likely get them into some kind of trouble with Ozpin and the other teachers at Beacon. They already had landed into enough trouble as it was last semester and with the food fight earlier this semester, so it was better not to risk it. That was why, Team SLVR ended up taking some time to also consider different outfits that they could wear for this specific occasion.

Everyone had agreed to gather in Team RWBY's room so that they could go over the plan again before heading out, and when Ventus and Roxas arrived, they found the girls all suited up and ready to go in their new outfits. The only thing they and their partners found almost as interesting as the outfits themselves was how the girls had decided to give their outfits special codenames. Ruby had decided to name her new attire Slayer, Weiss had settled on Snowpea, Blake had appropriately gone with Intruder, and Yang simply went with Hunter. Not that there was anything wrong with naming the ensembles, but then again, Team SLVR was a team full of guys, so they could not help but think it was weird.

Hearing someone come in, the girls turned to see the two blondes had appeared, and Yang just had to smirk a little upon seeing their change of attire. "Looking good, fellas," Yang praised. "Though maybe we should be concerned about whether or not you'll be turning a few more heads than necessary in those clothes."

"Well, I think that they look perfect," Weiss complimented, even if it was clear that she was more focused on Ven's new attire than Roxas's.

The wielder of Wayward Wind had gone with a very simple ensemble, consisting of a white shirt underneath a black vest with grey accents, dark grey pants, and black boots. He wore a scarf around his neck that matched the color of his Wayfinder, along with a grey pouch that was tied around his waist. The only things that he kept from his usual attire was his silver badge, which he now wore as a fastener for the pouch's belt, and his armor piece, having made it clear that he was not parting with either one no matter what. As for Roxas, he had decided to take a little inspiration from his friend Hayner when putting together his new outfit. He still wore his usual shoes, but he had switched his usual pants out for a pair of dark-blue, almost black jeans, topped with a crimson t-shirt that had some gold designs running along the hem that looked similar to the Nobody sigil linked together by katannas. Instead of his usual jacket, he had switched to a black vest that had a white checker pattern running along the collar, while the pointed cross he normally wore as a zipper hung from around his neck on a wire necklace. Like Ventus, he still kept a couple items from his usual outfit, and those were his two rings and the checkered wristband he always wore.

"How'd you come up with the idea for that outfit, Ventus," Blake questioned, feeling a little curious about the look that the light blonde haired boy was wearing. She could have sworn she had at least heard of a similar description to it somewhere before, but she had a little trouble putting her finger on where.

"I don't know really. The idea just sort of came to me," Ventus shrugged, not saying that he had seen this outfit once before in an odd dream he had a little while back.

"So where are Sora and Lea," Ruby asked.

"Still changing," Ventus said. "I get the feeling that Lea wants to make a big show out of his unveiling or something."

"Make way for burning hotness," Lea's voice suddenly called out barely even seconds later, announcing his arrival as he stepped into the room, and granting everyone a look at his change of attire. The redhead now sported a sleeveless orange jacket with a white, sleeveless shirt underneath, and tan baggy pants with red and white sneakers and black socks. The pockets of his jacket were a darker shade of orange than the rest, and around his neck was a yellow and brown scarf, that changed from a striped pattern to an organized checkerboard one near his neck.

It seemed like quite the radical change to most of the people in the room, compared to Lea's usual appearance, but for Ventus, it brought on a definite sense of nostalgia. "You're going with your old outfit from when we first met," he realized.

"More like a larger sized version of it," Lea clarified. "If went with the actual thing, I would probably look ridiculous, or like I was struggling to breathe and/or move in it."

"Boy does that sound familiar. Speaking of changes in an outfit's size, do all my old clothes have some enchantment on them that make them shrink if I don't wear them for a while, or is it just me," Sora's voice asked, making everyone turn back to the door just in time to see the leader of Team SLVR had arrived as well, sporting a look that all the guys were familiar with in one way or the other.

"Looks like Axel's not the only one to go with an old outfit for this as opposed to a whole new one," Roxas noted with a smile.

"I'll say," Lea complimented with his own smile. "I gotta admit, I missed your second adventure threads a little."

Indeed, Sora had switched over to the outfit he had worn during his second adventure through the worlds, though it seemed like he was struggling a little to comfortably fit the jacket of said outfit onto him. While Sora just shrugged off the compliments like they were no big deal, the others took note of how Ruby was currently gawking at him a little in admiration, probably would have said something if they were not busy with something else at the moment. Not that it completely stopped the discussion of fashion choices.

"Yeah, it does feel nice to be wearing this again, but it's a little tighter in the shoulders than I remember," Sora confessed as he made one last attempt to fix his jacket.

"It definitely works for you," Ruby absently commented. When she realized what she had let slip, Ruby quickly tried to cover it up with a last minute addition. "In the sense that you seem like you could do great work in those clothes!"

"Well I should hope so. That's the outfit he wore when he brought down the first Organization XIII," Lea revealed to the girls. He then frowned a little bit as he turned back to Sora and asked, "That being said, are you sure you're going to be okay with that outfit? I mean, it doesn't have all the same powers as your current one, so…"

"The Keyblade transformations aren't entirely dependent on what clothes I wear; that really just helps make it easier to use them," Sora revealed. "Besides, I can still use my Second Form easily enough with this outfit, which is why most of my Keychains for this mission are ones that use some variety of said form."

"Smart," Ventus praised. "So, I think that's everything we need to cover right? No more fashion shows or anything like that to hold us up?"

"Nope. As of now, the investigation begins," Ruby cheered as she leapt down from her bed, now over any embarrassment from her earlier slip.

"I'm glad to see that we're taking this so seriously," Weiss sarcastically remarked.

"Hey, we've got a plan. That's…moderately serious," Yang reminded the heiress in her sister's defense.

"Right. Everyone remember their roles," Ruby asked.

"You, Sora, Ven, and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem," Weiss proudly recited.

"And with the two of us backing you up, we should be ready for the off-chance that someone tries to cover it up," Ventus added on.

"The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members. If Roxas and I can get in, we can hopefully find out what they're planning," Blake continued from there. She paused for a minute to turn to her Keyblade partner and ask, "It might be a little hard for you to get in though, seeing as you definitely aren't a Faunus."

"No worries. Sora's been explaining to us how the magic he uses to alter his appearance for certain worlds works, and I think I've got it down just enough to make myself look like a pretty convincing Faunus," Roxas reassured her. As if to demonstrate, Roxas screwed his eyes shut in concentration, and in a flash of light, everyone saw Roxas change from a normal human into a Faunus that had cheetah spots running all along his skin. "See? Not bad, huh? Still trying to figure out why I can only ever get cheetah-like features though, but if it works."

"Either way, it's perfect," Blake smiled in approval, and with that, they continued on with the review of their plan.

"I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows _everything_ going on in Vale," Yang picked up. "Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard."

"Especially since you'll have me to back you up as your bad cop," Lea added.

"Please! You'd be the good cop in this case," Yang chuckled.

"Great," Ruby interrupted, not wanting to see her sister and Lea start flirting right now. "We'll meet up tonight near Yang and Lea to go over what we've found."

"Then what're we waiting for? Let's do this," Sora grinned.

"YEAH," Sun suddenly cheered, making everyone turn to see the monkey Faunus himself hanging from a tree branch right outside the window.

"SUN?!" Blake exclaimed as everyone flinched away from the window, worried about how much he had caught, among other things.

"How did you get up there," Yang asked in amazement.

"Ah, it's easy. I do it all the time," Sun shrugged, obviously not knowing what would be the first thing that some of them would think after he said that.

"You do what?!" Weiss and Ventus both exclaimed, each of them thinking the same thing about what he meant by that.

"I climb trees all the time," Sun clarified for everyone, making some of them relax a little, while others kept giving him suspicious looks.

Oddly enough, it was Lea who voiced the suspicions that many of them were still holding. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to see Ventus turn into a Faunus in a cool light show," Sun shrugged.

"Uh, one, I'm Roxas," the still transformed Keyblade wielder corrected. "And two, there's a very…logical explanation behind that." Despite saying that, the way he paused as he tried to think of said explanation definitely gave away that he was trying to cover something up. The fact that he ended up looking to the others for help did not help much either. "Guys, what's a logical explanation for this," Roxas whispered.

"There really isn't one," Sora sighed. "Might as well tell him."

"Tell me what," Sun asked as he spun himself into the room. "Does this have anything to do with finally getting back at that Torchwick guy? Because I'd definitely want in on that."

"It might have a little bit of something to do with that," Sora half-admitted.

"But as for Torchwick, _we_ are going to investigate the situation. As a _team_," Blake clarified for the monkey Faunus, waving her hand amongst the eight people who had been in on all of this originally. Not that it seemed like Sun was really getting it, so Ruby decided to just be completely blunt with him.

"Sorry Sun," the hooded huntress said. "We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to."

"Uh, you're letting these guys help out," Sun reminded her as he indicated Team SLVR.

"We don't really have much choice but to get involved. Things like Nobodies are kind of a Keyblade wielder concern," Lea stated in their defense.

"Well then shouldn't Xion be helping then? Or what about that blue haired chick?"

"That 'blue-haired-chick' is Aqua, my older sister figure, and a Keyblade master," Ventus informed the boy, his tone making it clear that Sun should watch his mouth when talking about Aqua. "And she's got enough to worry about as it is."

"As for Xion, well, she's mainly just here to visit me and Axel," Roxas picked up from there. "Besides, what self-respecting boyfriend would willingly put his girlfriend in danger like that?"

"Maybe one that knows said girlfriend isn't some damsel in distress, for starters," Xion's voice suddenly said, startling everyone as they turned to see the girl in question standing in the door while giving everyone a faint look of annoyance. "I can't believe you guys weren't going to include me on this. I'm just as worried about the fact that Torchwick has control over Nobodies as the rest of you, so don't think for a second that I'm going to just sit back and wait for you all to solve this mystery or something."

Given the look on her face, it was clear that Xion was not going to hear any arguments against this, so the guys ended up simply shrugging in acceptance of this, while Sun merely beamed widely as if his point had been proven. "See? It's dumb to not let friends help out. You should always get them involved if they can help," Sun remarked. "That's why I brought Neptune."

"Wait, what," the two Beacon teams all exclaimed before they raced over to the window and leaned out to see Sun's blue-haired teammate standing there, still looking as cool as can be.

"'Sup," Neptune casually nodded.

"How did you even get up here," Ruby questioned, knowing that her team's room was nowhere near the ground floor.

"I have my ways," Neptune shrugged. His act quickly dropped when he looked down and became a little worried. "Seriously though, can I come in? We're like, _really_ high up right now."

"And this is why I said we should've had this meeting in our team's room," Sora grumbled as he and the girls all quickly did whatever they could to help Neptune get in the room where it was safer.

Once Neptune was inside, Xion and the guys did a quick run through of the secret once again, this time without going into their personal history, and while Sun and Neptune were pretty amazed at learning that there were other worlds out there, they were still obviously a little skeptical about it. Any other time, and the guys probably would have done something to prove it to the two intruders, but they were burning daylight as it was, and there was no way that they could get the answers they were looking for if they did not get moving soon. It was just a matter of reorganizing the teams so that Sun, Neptune, and Xion were included.

"Alright," Ruby announced, having finally come to a decision. "Sora, Ven, and I will go with Weiss. Sun and Xion, you can go with Roxas and Blake." She then moved to start pushing Neptune over to Yang and Lea, as she finished, missing the way that Neptune had winked to Weiss as they passed her, and how Ventus sent him a light glare right after. "And Neptune, you can go with Yang and Lea since they're the only other team left."

"That and you can make sure that they don't start joking around or flirting when they should be working," Sora joked, drawing a faint blush onto both Yang and Lea's faces despite their attempts to simply laugh it off.

"Wha? Us? Flirting? Hahaha, that's just…we're just messing around if we seem to be doing anything like that, right Yang," Lea chuckled in an attempt to cover up his obvious affections for the blonde next to him.

"Yeah. Yeah, totally," Yang nodded along, even if no one missed the uncertainty in her voice. Well, no one besides Ruby and Lea that is.

"Okay, so everyone good now," Ruby finally asked, bringing an end to the joking.

"Actually Ruby, why don't you, Sora, and Ventus go with Yang and Lea," Weiss suggested. "I mean, Yang is your sister, and if you're going to the shady side of town, it would make sense to have more fighters there."

"But Weiss, that's way too many people. Even if it is only to talk to one guy, there's no need to send practically a small army to do it," Sora protested.

"Besides, who would you go with," Ruby asked.

"Well…I guess Neptune could come with me," Weiss shrugged, acting like the idea was just a random thought that no one needed to make a big deal out of.

While Neptune adopted a suave look at Weiss's suggestion, and most of the others just rolled their eyes at her poor attempt at hiding the obvious crush she had developed for Neptune, Ruby looked ready to laugh off the idea, thinking that it was silly and having missed the obvious signs completely. She probably would have too had Ventus not quickly marched over, grabbed Weiss by one arm, and quickly said, "Nope, that's a bad idea. The teams Ruby decided on are perfect. Let's go."

Everyone watched as Weiss tried to argue a little with Ventus's response and how he was pulling her out, but Sora and Ruby were quick to just shrug it off like it was no big deal and then followed after their partners. The others remained where they were for a few more minutes, with Blake, Sun, Roxas, and Xion eventually just making a silent exit, leaving the last three alone for a brief time. The silence only came to an end when Lea could no longer help himself, and chuckled a little.

"What's so funny," Yang asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just glad that we've at least solved that mystery," Lea replied, obviously enjoying the fact that his answer was just leaving his current partners more bewildered.

"What mystery," Neptune inquired.

"The mystery of whether or not Ven's face could make looks like that," Lea answered, still being vague.

"Meaning…" Yang prompted.

Lea then decided to be dramatic and turned a fake serious expression to the two as he said, "Jealousy, thy name is Kunsanagi."

That clued the other two in, and Yang could not help but burst out laughing, while Neptune just grinned the whole time. It was hard to tell if he was really all that amused or covering up some sense of disappointment though, but no one questioned him about it too much. The three of them had a job to do.

* * *

Even though she had lost her chance to team up with Neptune, Weiss would admit that she was still happy to be on the same team as Ventus. Sure, she was well-aware that she was working with both of their partners too, but for some reason, the blonde was the one that Weiss was especially happy to have with her, or at least she would have been if Ven had not seemed like he was in such a bad mood for the first few minutes since they had left the dorms. When she tried to ask him about it, Ventus just said it was nothing and looked away. That made Weiss even more curious, but she figured it would be better to focus on their mission for now and leave questioning Ventus about his odd behavior later. Besides, his bad mood had already lightened up, and given the entertaining sight they were witnessing, she could not say that she was surprised.

The minute that they had gotten close to the transmit tower, Ruby and Sora had not stopped gawking and fawning over the thing, acting like it was the coolest thing they had ever seen. Sure, this was probably Sora's first time seeing it, but it was still surprising to Weiss that he was so amazed by it after all the things he had seen over the course of his previous adventures. Not that it made his or Ruby's display of excitement any less enjoyable, mind you.

"Oh wow! That thing's huge," Sora grinned as he rushed to get closer to the transmit tower.

"I know right," Ruby agreed. "I forgot how big the transmit tower looks so close!"

Ventus could not stop himself from rolling his eyes and saying, "Sora, I get that the thing's big, but come on! How can you get so excited over a single, dull-looking tower when you've seen castles, fleets of pirate ships, and places like San Fransokyo?"

"Come on, Ven. Think about the stuff that this tower lets people do, and then tell me that you aren't the least bit excited to see it in person," Sora challenged.

Ventus hated to admit it, but Sora had him there. Knowing that this thing helped people to maintain constant communication all across this massive world was certainly impressive, but while he was often described as being similar to Sora, he was not about to act like a kid in a candy store just from seeing the tower like Sora was. Before he could say that though, Weiss said, "If you think this is impressive, you should see the one in Atlas."

"That was the first one, right," Ruby recalled.

"Correct. Atlas developed the cross-continental transmit system," Weiss began to recite, when someone suddenly interrupted to finish on her behalf.

"To allow the four kingdoms to communicate with each other. It was their gift to the world after the great war," Ventus stated for Weiss. When the others all looked at him in wonder, Ventus just shrugged and said, "What? Weiss isn't the only one who makes it a point to study up on the stuff they teach us in class. Besides, it's important to know things about other worlds when you have to defend them from darkness."

While Weiss granted Ven the pleasure of an impressed smile, Ruby and Sora just smirked to one another at the opportunity that their friends had presented to them. "Ooo look at me, my name is Weiss. I know facts. I'm rich," Ruby teased, making her voice sound rather proper in an attempt at imitating her friend.

"Weiss, darling, please allow me, the great Ventus, to showcase my own knowledge so that I may impress you and confirm that I am far more than a simple swordsman that is always confused to be Roxas's twin," Sora continued on from there.

"Why Ven, you don't need to do that. I'm already quite smitten with how impressive you are," Ruby continued on, barely holding in her giggles at how Weiss and Ven's faces seemed to rapidly switch between scowling and flustered every few seconds over their act.

"Then might I be so bold as to hold your hand, milady? I realize that I may already be doing so, but having your consent would be most pleasing," Sora stated.

That one made Ventus and Weiss look down, only to see that they were in fact not holding hands, and their reactions were just the thing that broke the dam holding back Sora and Ruby's laughter. "Not funny," Ventus scowled at the two as he attempted to lessen the heat in his face by calming down.

"Don't be a couple of pests," Weiss snapped right after, her own face just as red as Ven's, but far more noticeable given her pale complexion and all-white outfit. She then looked right at Ruby and said, "Besides, the only reason we're here is because _you_ like the tower so much." Following that, she turned to Sora and continued, "And because _you_ and Ven haven't seen it in person before. We could've just as easily made a call from the library."

"We could," Sora asked, having not known that before.

"Yes, of course we could. You know, for someone who's made it a point to finish all of his weekend homework on the first night of the weekend lately, I'd have thought you would be able to retain a little bit of that knowledge in that tiny brain of yours," Ventus remarked, getting in a little teasing as payback for Sora and Ruby's.

Sora just shrugged in response, not having a comeback for that, while Ruby said, "I know we could've done that, but it's so cool! Besides, would you really want to rob Sora and Ven of this cultural experience?"

"I mean, it is nice getting to see it in person, but I wouldn't really call it a cultural experience," Ventus shrugged. Just then, Sora let out a gasp and quickly started fiddling with his Gummiwatch in excitement while somehow finding a way to rifle through his pockets for his Gummiphone, much to Ven's confusion. "Now what're you doing?"

"I'm gonna call Riku so I can tell him how much of a blast this is, and I want to get a picture too," Sora explained.

"Seriously? We aren't even doing anything that special yet," Weiss pondered, confused as to how Sora could consider this to be a blast.

"Well, that's Sora for ya. Always finding even the most mundane of things exciting so long as it's on another world," Ventus sighed.

"Oh, Oh! If you're making it a selfie, then can I get in on it," Ruby happily requested.

"Sure thing," Sora agreed, not realizing that Ruby was already moving closer to that they would both be in the camera's frame until she had bumped into him.

The collision ended up causing Sora to lose his grip on his Gummiphone, and they all watched as the otherworldly device skipped across the ground like a stone across water. After their last adventure, the two Keyblade wielders knew that those things could survive a lot of harsh punishment, but that did not excuse them from doing things that could end up causing them to lose said devices, especially on another world. Just when Sora was about to chase after his Gummiphone though, it finally landed at someone's feet, and said person immediately picked it up. For a minute, Sora was worried that the person might not see them and end up taking it to the nearest place with a lost-and-found, but he soon breathed a sigh of relief when his Gummiphone's rescuer stood up straight again and held it out to him. At least he was sighing in relief, until they realized who it was that was returning his gummi device to him.

"You dropped this," Penny said to the group she held out Sora's Gummiphone for him to take back, apparently not realizing who she was talking to, or how surprise they were to see her.

"Penny?!" Ruby and Sora both exclaimed.

"Uhh…" Penny gasped, having just realized who they were, but for some reason, she looked a little nervous about this fact.

"Where have you been," Ruby asked, not giving Penny any time to really answer her. "We haven't seen you since the night at the docks."

"Yeah, did something happen," Sora questioned, only to get an answer that he was not expecting.

"S-sorry. I think you're confused," Penny stuttered. Before any of the others could call her out on her strange comment, Penny suddenly hiccupped, causing Sora's Gummiphone to go flying out of her hands and into Sora's.

"Whoa! Careful Penny. This thing isn't like an ordinary Scroll," Sora cautioned as nicely as possible, but the girl just seemed to grow more skittish. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, I've got to go," Penny quickly replied, not really answering Sora's question, and she then spun around and began practically running away from the four.

"Okay, that was a little weird even for her," Ventus commented, just as confused as Sora and Ruby were, and he was not the only one, either.

"No kidding. What was that about," Weiss demanded, a little angry that Penny was acting like she did not know her friends.

"I don't know," Ruby shrugged. "But I'm going to find out."

"You mean _we're_ going to find out," Sora corrected.

"Oh no. Sora Hikari, don't you dare do what I think you're about to…" Ventus started to warn, but Sora and Ruby were already chasing after Penny.

"You and Weiss go make that call. We'll meet up with you later," Ruby said to the blonde.

"You two play nice now," Sora added in, feeling the need to get in a little bit more teasing before they left.

"Wait," Weiss called out, her face turning red again.

"Hey, watch it, Sora," Ventus snapped as he attempted to hide his own blush. Looking to Weiss, Ventus found himself unable to do much more than nervously chuckle, and the Schnee heiress was not much better off after that, either. When he did find his voice again, the first thing that Ven said was, "You know, after ditching him twice now, I get the feeling that I deserved that at the very least. Hehe."

Weiss would admit that she did get a small chuckle out of that, but she was still a little upset with their respective partners for running out on them like that. Still, she could admit that Ruby and Sora were probably right to chase after Penny, because with the way that the odd girl was acting, it did seem like she might know something about what had happened that night. Besides, she could not blame Ruby and Sora for being curious about what happened to Penny after she had disappeared; she had been wondering about that too. She just hoped that whatever it was did not land Ruby and Sora into any kind of trouble.

* * *

It had not taken Sora and Ruby very long to catch up with their fleeing friend, but even when they did, Penny seemed like she was determined to put some distance between her and the two of them, for all the good that it did. The girl only stopped when Ruby finally ran around in front of her, with Sora blocking her from the other side. "Penny, where have you been," Ruby panted, a little surprised that she had to run so much in order to catch up with her.

"Yeah, it's been weeks since we last saw you, or even heard anything. We've been really worried," Sora informed the girl right after.

Penny did not seem like she was paying any attention to the two, but instead just glanced around like she was keeping a lookout for something. When she did turn to the two again, the only thing she said was, "There seems to be a misunderstanding."

"What," Ruby and Sora both exclaimed as Penny started to walk away again.

"Penny, is everything okay," Ruby called out, but the girl did not stop. That was not going to deter Ruby Rose, as she showed when she slid down the rail of the stairs that they were all standing on to get in front of her again. "Penny! Please stop!"

"Come on, Penny. You told us that if you had a lot of friends, you'd want them to talk to you about stuff, right? Well that goes both ways, and besides, we really need you to listen to us right now," Sora added. That, coupled with Ruby's earlier plea finally got Penny to stop trying to leave them, but she did not seem like she was very happy about it. Not to say that she was mad, but from where Sora was standing, she actually looked a little sad, and maybe a bit ashamed.

"Sora's right," Ruby said, not really noticing Penny's change in mood. "Those guys we fought at the docks, we think they're up to something big. Something bad! And we're even more sure of that since they're working with dangerous creatures that Sora and his friends have fought before. We need you to tell us what happened to you that night. Please. As a friend."

When she heard that, Penny finally conceded defeat, or at least that was what Sora assumed, given the way she had sighed almost right after Ruby had finished her brief explanation of what was going on. Not that it mattered too much to him, Sora was just glad to see that their friend was finally not acting like she did not know them for whatever reason, but he did grow a little more concerned when she nervously glanced about again for some unseen thing. His worries only grew a little more when Penny drew closer to him and Ruby and whispered, "It isn't safe to talk here."

One quick look between them, told Sora and Ruby that they were both a little more worried about Penny after they heard that, but they still agreed to go somewhere else to continue their conversation with her. A few different thought were now running through their heads now, though; trying to puzzle together the reason why Penny could not talk to them without being in a specific spot. Did the bad guys get to her somehow, or was she being tracked by someone dangerous? The more they thought about it, the more it seemed to Ruby and Sora that their investigation had just gotten a bit more complicated.

* * *

**_AN: Weren't expecting me to end the chapter there, now were you? Honestly, I had contemplated going all the way to the end of "Minor Hiccup", but I felt like leaving all the big action stuff of the investigation for the next chapter, so that's where we wrap up today's piece of the epic._**

**_On another note, how did you guys like the way that Ozpin, Aqua, and Ironwood's little talk went? Was it what you were expecting, did it fall short, or did it turn out a little better than you had hoped? Please, don't be afraid to be completely, bluntly honest in regards to that. Oh, speaking of which, how many of you are thinking that you're starting to draw more solid conclusions on who the new Princess of Heart is based on that meeting? I know some of you have already made a guess or two already, but I feel like that particular meeting at the start of the chapter might be cluing everyone in a little more._**

**_That said, we did get to see the scene in the library, and as it turns out, it was supposed to be a group study session in this story that went a little off the rails._**

**_Ventus: To say the least._**

**_And while it did its job of showcasing a little more angsty/moody/angry Sora, it also gave us another opportunity, too. The first showing of jealous Ventus~._**

**_Ventus: [blushes and goes silent from that point on]_**

**_AN: Hehe. Yeah, that got him quiet. Speaking of which, it looks like we saw quite a bit of Ven's inner green-eyed monster showing himself in this chapter, huh? Not that you can blame him, really, am I right? Plus, we ended up having Sora join in on Team RWBY's board game, and basically owning all of the girls, giving us another chance to draw out a little of the good ol' classic Sora. Nice thinking there, Ven, Yang, and Ruby._**

**_Not to mention more moments of Lea vs. Weiss. I know its getting a little silly to have them keep going at each other now, but at this point, its really more of a running gag that's more based on the whole fire & ice relationship. And yes, I know that seems like a pretty bad joke, but can you blame me? Those two make the perfect personification of that thing._**

**_Oh, and look at that, Cinder and her crew are setting off a few warning bells for Sora. Maybe there _is_ a chance that the Keyblade wielders will see through Emerald's illusions at the Vytal Festival Tournament. Only time will tell for sure._**

**_Moving along, I'm sure you've already figured this out based on what was said in the main story, but I'll go over it anyways. Sora is in fact rocking his KH2 threads for the time of the group's investigation, while Lea is sporting the outfit he wore when he showed up in BBS. As for Ventus, his new look draws a lot of inspiration from the stylings of Ephemer, with one or two changes that make it unique to Ven, while Roxas's change in appearance, as I previously stated, is based off of Hayner's KH3 attire. As for his Faunus form, that's actually a little case of copy-and-paste, so to speak, since that's the idea I have for what his Faunus form would be in the Keyblades Unleashed Series, as you could all see for yourselves in the little sneak preview of that series's future in RWBY Meetings. Too bad his demonstration of how he would change into Faunus form ended up being what allowed Sun and Neptune to be let in on the big secret of the Keyblade wielders._**

**_Sora: So much for not telling anyone else about that._**

**_AN: Hey, I wasn't going to have those two find out, but there are just some things you can't really control, and this was an example of one such instance, which doubles as a learning experience for Team RWBY. The lesson: make sure that your window's closed when you're making secret plans, even if they are plans on how to save your home from bad guys._**

**_And as if to wrap up with another call back to classic Sora, we also got that little moment at the transmit tower, which led to the reunion with Penny, along with some teasing of Windchill, courtesy of RoseHeart._**

**_Sora: [blushing] Okay, we get it already. Please stop._**

**_AN: Hey, I had to throw that out there. Besides, Ven was right when he said that this did make as good payback for at least one of the times that he and the other guys ditched Sora._**

**_Now all that's left to do is wait for what comes next, huh? And you may be surprised by what will happen in the next chapter, and by at least one or two things that may happen over the course of the next few chapters as well. Want a hint? Here's the obvious one: Onto the Preview!..._**

**_The team's investigation continues on, with Ventus and Weiss making a call to the Schnee Company headquarters, while Yang, Lea, and Neptune stop by the club that Yang had previously trashed in a search for information not too long ago, and Roxas, Xion, and their Faunus friends slip into a White Fang meeting spot. While that's going on though, Ruby and Sora make a surprising discovery about Penny, but that's not the only thing that happens for the two leaders. The real question is whether or not the other thing that happens to them is good or bad. A puzzle that may be harder to figure out when Roman Torchwick attacks once again, with a few more Nobodies as well. Things are about to heat up in more ways than one, next time._**

**_Yeah, not really giving away too much about the big surprise I have in store for you all, but I'm keeping all cards close to the chest until it's written down and posted. So, you'll have to settle for what you got here, for now. Until next time..._**

**_Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy._**


	11. Paint the Town

**_AN: [hiding nervously behind desk, which is fortified with numerous different defensive measures] Oh boy. He's coming. He's coming for me! Gotta keep him from getting to me! [notices audience] AH! Oh, it's just you guys. Sorry, I can't really talk right now. Someone very dangerous is after me for certain events that happen in this chapter, and I'm pretty sure that by the end of it, some of you might be as well. So, Imma just answer some reviews really quickly and get you guys right into it._**

**_"Anonymaton", like the suggestion for Rejection of Fate's Formchange, may run with it later on. Thanks for that, and you may be surprised to learn that Sora's likely going to learn the secret a lot sooner than you think, but not for reasons you may be expecting._**

**_"keybladelight", don't worry, angsty, angry Sora isn't going to be around for much longer, but he's going to end up getting worse before he gets better. There just some changes that can't be stopped, no matter what the promise someone makes. Look on the bright side, at least he's going all Injustice Superman on us, and no, that's not me jinxing it, because that's not going to happen, I can guarantee that._**

**_Now, "SuperMarioFreak", thank you so much for the praise. You are far too kind, and I'm glad to hear that you've enjoyed my other KH stories thus far._**

**_Ruby: Now as far as favorite Keychains..._**

**_AN: AH! [hides in fort]_**

**_Ruby: Dude, it's just me and the others. We've gotta be here to answer the rest of his review._**

**_AN: [peeks out to see that it is just Team RWBY, JNPR, Coco, and Velvet] Oh, I knew that._**

**_Ruby: Anyways, mine would have to be...Rumbling Rose, or any of the other ones that Sora got from meetings with Beauty and the Beast. Reason...Do you have to ask?_**

**_Weiss: Hmm...I would say Crystal Snow. It has a certain elegance and beauty to it that I find very lovely. Plus I will admit, part of me does really like the story of Frozen._**

**_Blake: There's a shock._**

**_Weiss: Hey!_**

**_Blake: Anyways, I think mine's Oblivion. Despite it's dark look and nature, its still a powerful force for good._**

**_Yang: I like Fenrir, mainly because it's one that obviously got its inspiration from Cloud, and he's a tough son of a bitch. Nuff said._**

**_Jaune: Hmm, if I had to choose one, I'd say probably any of the Keyblades you get from Olympus Coliseum/Olympus._**

**_Pyrrha: I feel the same way, Jaune._**

**_Nora: Now there's something that isn't surprising. Obviously, I do like Favorite Deputy because it can turn into a hammer, but I also like all the ones you get from Pooh's storybook and Grand Chef._**

**_Ren: The reason is obviously because they're food-themed. My favorites would be Hidden Dragon, Way to Dawn, and Two Become One. They each have some meaning to a long journey in which many changes occurred that helped the person on that journey grow up a little more, especially in the case of the latter two. Although, in the case of Hidden Dragon, I just like it because it just feels like something that I'd be very familiar with._**

**_Velvet: Oh, there's just so many, I can't really decide._**

**_Coco: I can, and my favorite would have to be Gull Wing, namely because I just really like the Gullwings themselves. They've got some really amazing style._**

**_AN: Okay, is that everyone? Good, I need to move this along._**

**_Sora: Wait! We still haven't answered the other question._**

**_AN: AH! [hides again until he realizes who it is] Oh, uh, sure. Yeah, but fast!_**

**_Sora: Okay...Well, anyways, the answer to who would win in a game of laser tag between all of us, would definitely be either me, Roxas, Ren, or Ruby. Roxas does in fact use two laser guns, but I've also got a pretty good amount of experience after all that time I spent using my Double Arrowguns Formchange. Plus, Ruby makes it hard to hit her since she's so fast, and Ren, well I think the reasons speak for themselves, given his usual choice of weapon._**

**_AN: Moving on now! "cbustroyer", I'm glad to see that despite your hang-ups, you do in fact find the story to be good, and I think that you'll be pleased to know that with this chapter at least, I have taken your advice into consideration. I did in fact try to change some of the original dialogue up a little beyond what is necessary, but keep in mind, there are just some things that I can't really change too much and allow it to have the same effect. I've got a bit of a hang-up of my own in that I tend to keep a good deal of the original dialogue in there when necessary so that I can make more of an impact, or really just so I can have the characters provide their own reactions to the things that were said at certain points, but I can see why you'd be annoyed that it does not change very much. Hope you can continue following the story despite any future hang-ups._**

**_"Dragon Rider 66", no need to worry, the newest update is still in October, and I'm hoping to have the next one up while we're still in said month as well, mainly because I don't want to leave you all hanging on how things end in this chapter. You'll see why in a little bit. No, it's not entirely wrong to hope that things may lead to a love triangle between Neptune, Weiss, and Ven, but I wouldn't bet on it too much. As for your more funny idea, I think that might end up being something I could try to do in the possible Chibi-verse story of this one._**

**_"CT7567Rules", you really think that Sora, _Sora_ is likely to find a computer virus, be it Cinder's or anyone else's? As he stated in Kingdom Hearts 3...[plays certain clip from said game]_**

**_"I can't computer."_**

**_[end clip]_**

**_Nuff said there. Regarding your question regarding Gundams, if you don't that we just leave it at Team RWBY for the moment, I would say that Yang would go with any machine that fights in close-combat like her (meaning machines like Gundam Maxter or similar ones), Blake would probably go with something like the Deathscythe or the Blitz Gundam, Weiss...hmm, I'd like to say maybe Gundam Rose since it utilizes at least one weapon that's similar to what she's used to, and Ruby...Well, it's a little harder to pin it down for her, but definitely the Deathscythe because of it's main weapon, or maybe any machine that was in her color._**

**_That's pretty much all I can answer at this time, as anything else would have a strong chance of me giving away serious spoilers, be it for next chapter or in the future of the story. Now, time to move on to the main event. Enjoy, I'll just be hiding over here if you need me._**

**_Ruby: Why are you hiding, anyway?_**

**_AN: Can't explain. He might be here any minute._**

**_Qrow: He's already here, actually._**

**_AN: AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! [runs away as fast as possible]_**

**_Qrow: You're not getting off that easy! [chases after author with sword drawn]_**

**_Ruby: Now Uncle Qrow's trying to kill the author?! Why?!_**

**_Yang: I get the feeling we're about to find out. If I may be so bold..._**

**_lyokoMARVELanime does not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story._**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Paint the Town**

In all honesty, Weiss probably should have seen this coming. Sure, they did not necessarily need four people to make a simple phone call, but given how Ruby had pretty much insisted that she and Sora come with her, she would have expected her team's leader to actually stick around long enough to make the call before running off like that. Still, it was not like she did not understand why Ruby and Sora had gone to chase after Penny. If one of her friends suddenly popped up after being missing for weeks, acting like they did not know her, she would want some answers too. Besides, there was always the chance that Penny could have some information that would help with their investigation, so that made it a little easier for her to deal with any frustrations she had towards the two leaders. Well that, and the fact that she was not left completely on her own for this, as evidenced by the blonde who was currently walking alongside her through the transmit tower's lobby.

"Okay, so once we make that call, what do you think we should do afterwards," Ventus asked as they approached the elevator.

"Maybe go over the files to see if there's anything that stands out. It would help make things go by a little quicker for when we meet up with the others," Weiss shrugged. She had not really thought that much about it either, and thinking back now, it did seem a little silly for them to change their appearances for this when they were not really expecting to do much more than make a phone call.

"Yeah, that does sound good," Ventus nodded. He then seemed to grow a little more nervous as he added, "Maybe we could…I don't know, find a nice quiet place to do that in, like a café or something? Grab a bite to eat while we're looking over the stuff?"

Weiss could not help but gain a faint tinge of pink at that suggestion, but she was not able to give an answer, as they had already stepped into the elevator, and were now having to listen to the automated voice playing over the speaker. **"Hello. Welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?"**

Weiss quickly cast off her flustered state and replied to the computer's question. "We'd like to go to the communications room please."

**"Absolutely. Could you please place your Scrolls on the terminal to verify your identities?"** In response, both Weiss and Ventus pulled out their Scrolls and held them up to the terminal, silently allowing the devices to be scanned. **"Perfect! Thank you Miss Schnee and Mister Kunsanagi."**

Neither of the two said anything back as the elevator started moving to its destination, but Ventus was tempted to repeat his earlier question to Weiss. That is, until he saw Weiss trying to plaster a fake smile onto her face, and apparently not quite getting the result she wanted, judging by the grimaces that usually followed afterwards. "Weiss, what're you doing," Ventus asked.

"Uh…I'm practicing my smiling," Weiss replied, though her answer sounded more like a question in both of their ears.

Ventus did not want to get on the heiress's bad side, but he felt that he just could not lie about what he saw. "Yeah, I'd hate to break this to you, Weiss, but I saw more convincing fake smiles from Jaune back when Cardin was messing with him."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, I'm just saying," Ventus reassured her. "Why do you even need to practice that, anyway?"

"Because we don't want the receptionist to think that something is wrong, for one. If she does, she's likely to patch me through to my father, and that's the last thing I need right now," Weiss informed him.

Ventus was curious as to why Weiss would not want to talk to her father. Given what she had told him about her family, he thought that Weiss would leap at any chance to talk with her parents. Then again, there was also the chance that one or both of her parents held some responsibility for the recent turn of her family company's reputation, or that Weiss just held some little bit of animosity towards them for what happened when she was little. Either way though, he was going to respect her wishes and not question her on this matter. That did not mean he would not help her avoid talking to her father however he could though.

"Well, you're not going to convince anyone looking like some cheap, plastic doll. Maybe you should try thinking of something funny, or just anything that makes you happy. That might help a little bit," Ventus informed Weiss.

"Somehow, I'm not so sure of that," Weiss informed Ventus. The next thing she knew, Ventus was suddenly poking at her ribcage. "Hey! What're doing?"

"Trying to make you laugh," Ventus shrugged like it was the most natural thing the world before he continued his efforts to tickle Weiss. Sure, she was trying to bat his hand away, but Ventus was too quick for that strategy to work well for very long. "Hey, laughter is the best medicine, and people always have a much more natural smile when they're laughing."

"Oh please," Weiss grumbled in response with a roll of her eyes, but that did not stop Ven from trying to tickle her. "Cut it out! Ven, this isn't funny!"

"Then how come you're already starting to smile," Ventus teasingly questioned.

"I-I'm not! I-I'm n-not…s-smiling, you…You…Hehe…Hehehehe….AHAHAHAHA!" Weiss could not keep it in any longer. Ventus had gotten past all of her defenses, and now, she was laughing up a storm as his fingers danced along her ribcage. "S-stop! Ven! Th-that tickles! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"There we go! Now that looks much better, wouldn't you say," Ventus happily asked. His grin then turned a little more mischievous as he then added, "Who would've thought our resident Snow Princess was ticklish, though. Makes me wonder where else is a weak spot for you."

"Ventus, I-I swear, d-don't you even," Weiss tried to threaten between her chuckles, but it was not even coming out as half-hearted with all the laughing she was doing. That and hearing him call her Snow Princess did make her gain another odd, tingly feeling in her stomach.

Ven's tickle attack did not let up from Weiss until the elevator finally dinged to signal their arrival at the communications room, and he immediately pulled away so that no one would get suspicious or shoot them with any odd looks. Weiss on the other hand, needed to catch her breath, so she was sure that she was going to be getting some of those looks. Despite that, she still gave Ventus a thankful smile before they exited the elevator and made their way over to the reception desk, where a holographic image of a woman suddenly appeared once they had gotten close enough.

**"Welcome to the Beacon Cross-Continental Transmit Center. How may I help you,"** the AI asked with a pleasant smile once the pair had reached the desk.

"We need to make a call to Schnee Company World Headquarters in Atlas," Weiss informed the AI receptionist.

**"Absolutely,"** the hologram replied as it appeared to work on a keyboard for a few seconds. **"If you could head over to Terminal 3, I'll patch you through."**

"Thank you," Ventus nodded in reply, and with that, he and Weiss turned to head for the specified terminal, passing several students who were on call with a variety of individuals as they went.

Reaching the terminal, Weiss felt her smile falter a little bit, but thankfully it did not disappear completely. The last thing she needed was to have a repeat of Ven's tickle attack from the elevator, and right now, just thinking of it seemed liable to give her a brief round of giggles, as evidenced by how a brief one slipped past her lips just now. Thankfully, she managed to silence it just before the line to her family's company headquarters opened up and was answered by the receptionist.

_"Thank you for calling the Atlas…Oh! Miss Schnee,"_ the receptionist gasped in pleasant surprise upon seeing Weiss was on the other end. _"Good afternoon! Would you like me to patch you through to your father? I think your sister, Winter might be here as well."_

"No thank you," Weiss politely declined. "I was actually wondering if you could find some files for me. I've compiled a short list."

With that said, she then plugged her Scroll into the terminal, transmitting the data on said list to the receptionist on the other end of the call, and making said woman turn a little concerned. _"I see…If you don't mind, what may I ask is this for?"_

"School project," Weiss easily played off.

It did not seem like the secretary was completely convinced though. _"Um, there are some rather sensitive documents on this list, ma'am."_

"Well, Weiss is quite the overachiever, and she didn't want to leave anything out on this," Ventus said in an attempt to help reinforce Weiss's story. If he had been paying better attention though, he probably would have noticed Weiss trying to discreetly signal for him to keep quiet.

When the receptionist saw Ventus appear, her smile quickly returned, but this time with a rather suspicious feeling accompanying it. _"Oh! And who is this handsome young man?"_

"I'm Ventus, one of Weiss's classmates and friends from here at Beacon. We were assigned as partners for the project," Ventus explained.

_"I see,"_ the receptionist nodded, her tone indicating that she was forming a rather interesting thought. She then looked back to Weiss and asked, _"Tell me, ma'am, is he your boyfriend?"_

"WHAT," Ventus and Weiss both gasped, drawing the attention of a few people in the room.

While Ventus just nervously laughed it off while waving to everyone else, Weiss attempted to regain her composure and said, "U-um, back on topic, those documents I requested? I'll be sure to treat them with the utmost care, and I can safely say the same for my PARTNER."

_"Right…Very well,"_ the receptionist nodded, her smile not faltering at all, even as Weiss's Scroll rang with the sound of data being received. _"The data is being transferred to your Scroll now."_

"Wonderful. That will be all then," Weiss thanked, happy that it seemed like she was going to get through this call without anymore unexpected surprises. Too bad for her she ended up thinking that a little too soon.

_"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to patch you through to your father before you go? I'm sure he would like to hear that you've made some friends at Beacon, and found a very handsome young man who clearly cares for you at that?"_

"YES! Yes, I'm sure! Goodbye now," Weiss immediately insisted, her face turning red again at what the woman on the other end of the call was implying, and before anymore could be said, Weiss quickly slammed the control to hang up, letting the screen go blank right after.

Ventus could not help but chuckle a little bit at how flustered Weiss was at the end of that call, but his mood changed just as quickly when he saw another frown appear on Weiss's face. On one hand, he figured that she was a little sad that she had passed up a chance to talk with her sister, given that Weiss had admitted to not getting to see all that much of Winter since she joined the Atlesian army, but then again, the receptionist had mentioned Weiss's father a lot more than her sister, so it was probably not that. The only way he was really going to know for sure though was to ask about it.

"Hey Weiss, I know you said that things had been rough in your family since you were little, but is there…something going on between you and your father," Ventus finally asked.

"Well…There may be a chance that…my father was not too happy that I had decided to attend Beacon Academy," Weiss hesitantly admitted. "Or more accurately, he was not too fond of my decision to become a huntress, so I may or may not have…come here without his approval or full knowledge."

"You…basically snuck out of the house…to follow your dream," Ventus summarized as best as he could.

"Not quite how I would put it, but that is rather accurate," Weiss nodded, waiting for whatever judgment would come next. When he did not say anything, Weiss found she could not help but continue speaking. "My father's done a lot of bad things with my grandfather's company since he took over; I'm not blind to that, and I think the only way I can set things right is by becoming a huntress. After all, my grandfather was a huntsman when he started the company, so it only makes sense that I might be able to set things right by taking a similar path to his."

Hearing Weiss talk about her grandfather like that made Ventus smile a little bit, even it was upsetting to hear that the company took a nose-dive because of her father. Still, it was nice to know a little more about the reason why Weiss had chosen her path in life, and Ven was even more intrigued by the fact that Weiss had pushed forward with her choice despite her father's disapproval. It actually reminded him of something that he had to mention to Weiss.

"You know, you're not the only one who's done something like that," Ventus informed Weiss, much to her surprise and curiosity. "You remember what we told you about my first journey? The one that involved our first time battling Vanitas and the Unversed?" When Weiss nodded in confirmation, Ventus then added, "I actually wasn't supposed to go on that journey. Aqua, Terra, and Master Eraqus had wanted me to stay home, thinking that I wasn't ready and it was safer if I didn't try to leave."

"Really," Weiss gasped. She did not remember Ven and the others mentioning that when they were telling her and the others their story.

"Yeah, but Vanitas…he had something that got me pretty worried about Terra, and I just couldn't bring myself to ignore it," Ventus revealed. "Sometimes, you can't really worry about what others say or think; if you feel like you can or have to do something then it's better to just act on that instinct. Better to act and regret the choice then to just sit back and regret not making it, you know?"

Weiss let that roll around in her head for a minute, and inevitably smiled to Ventus, showing that she felt exactly the same way when she made her decision to come to Beacon. It only became all the more apparent when she said, "Thank you, Ven. It feels good to know that someone else feels the same way as I do." Just because she was grateful though, did not mean she was going to let other things slide. "I'm still going to get you back for that tickle attack later on."

"Yeah, good luck with that," Ventus scoffed in good humor.

"Oh, I don't think I'll need very much luck, given you apparently have a very serious weakness for such tactics as well," Weiss grinned knowingly.

Seeing that smile gave Ventus a very bad feeling, and there was only one conclusion that made sense in his mind as to the reason behind her smile. "What did Aqua tell you," he asked, dreading the answer even before it came.

"Oh, she may or may not have mentioned a certain sparring match you had with Terra, where your defeat came about due to your friend accidentally stumbling upon one of your more ticklish spots," Weiss admitted, her smile still holding.

Ventus knew exactly what she was talking about after hearing that, and immediately let out an agonized moan, drawing a fresh bout of laughter from heiress. When he heard Weiss laughing again, Ven could not bring himself to be too upset. Sure, he was still very embarrassed, but hearing her laugh and seeing her smile seemed to have a very calming effect on Ventus, and it was at that point he finally had to admit that maybe Aqua had a point in all those times she had teased him about the resident Ice Princess. The idea certainly was growing more and more appealing to him the more he thought about it.

* * *

Even after moving a little more into the city, Penny still seemed really nervous about talking with her friends, but thankfully, a reassuring grin from both Ruby and Sora after they showed up at the café they agreed to meet at did the trick with helping to ease her nerves at least a little more. Sure, their sudden appearance had startled her at first, but being around Ruby and Sora again did make Penny really happy. Regardless of that, Penny insisted that they keep moving around as they talked, and she was very thankful for the two not questioning that. She just wished she had better news in regards to what they were looking into right now.

"I do wish I could help you guys, but I don't know anything about those men or the creatures they were working with," Penny informed them.

"I kinda figured it would be a long-shot that you did know something," Sora shrugged like it was no big deal. "Besides, it's probably better if you steered clear of them any ways."

"He's right. Those creatures may not have been too tough, but they were some of the weaker variety of others like them," Ruby added on, remembering what Sora and the others had told her about the various forms of Nobodies. "More importantly though, what happened to you that night? One minute we were all together, and the next you had just disappeared. Were you kidnapped?"

"Oh no! Nothing like that," Penny hurriedly insisted. "It's just…As I've already mentioned to Sora, I've never been to another kingdom before. My father asked me not to venture out too far, but…"

"You got caught up in all the excitement and couldn't help but do everything possible to see all that Vale had to offer, right," Sora guessed. When Penny looked at him in question, silently confirming his theory, Sora explained, "Trust me, I know that feeling all too well. In fact, I still get it whenever I go somewhere that I haven't been to for the first time. I'm sure your dad couldn't have been too upset if that was the case though, could he?"

Penny smiled upon hearing that, glad to hear that Sora understood her excitement, but still felt the need to say something in her father's defense. "Oh no. He wasn't very upset, he just…My father loves me very much, but he worries a lot."

"Believe _me_, I know _that_ feeling," Ruby remarked with a roll of her eyes, thinking of her own father and how much he worries about her and Yang. "But, why not let us know you were okay?"

"I…was asked…not to talk to you two," Penny slowly admitted. "Or Weiss…or Blake…or Yang…or Roxas…or anybody really."

"Jeez! That's a little harsh. Your dad was that upset," Sora asked, not knowing that Ruby was of the exact same mind as him.

"No, it wasn't my father who asked me," Penny started to explain, only to stop short when they all heard someone talking over a loudspeaker from somewhere around the corner.

Looking to the source, the three were all greeted to the sight of a platform in the center plaza, where it looked like someone from Atlas was presenting something to the general public, and it was pretty easy to figure out what that thing was just from looking, at least for Ruby. "Hey, looks like General Ironwood is announcing some new Atlas tech," Ruby cheered. "Maybe it's an upgrade for the Atlesian Knights."

"For the what," Sora asked.

"You know, those robots security guards. Haven't you seen some of them around before," Ruby asked.

"Oh yeah. I think I did see some once or twice at some of the docks that the Schnee Company uses," Sora recalled, now feeling a little curious about what was being presented, not noticing anymore than Ruby how Penny seemed to become a little anxious at the sight of the presentation.

**"The AK130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years, and they have done a fine job, wouldn't you agree? Wouldn't you agree,"** the hologram of Ironwood asked the gathering audience while the robots in question gave a quick, synchronized bow, making Sora think that it was not just a recording of the general. Either that or the general was really good at timing his pauses just enough to allow for his audience's reactions, given that he had only stopped just long enough for the crowd of gathered people to clap for the robots behind him before speaking again. **"But, the kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation, and fine…Well, that's just not good enough, so why stop there? Presenting, the Atlesian Knight…200!"**

At that last declaration, the two sets of pods that were resting behind the robots all opened up to show everyone a much more impressive squad or robots, each of which could easily be mistaken for people in fancy armor where it not for their perfect synchronized movements as they moved to stand atop the backs of the less impressive robots, and the obvious signs of mechanical joints on their bodies. The sight of the robots definitely seemed appealing to the audience, given how loudly they clapped upon seeing them, even as they continued listening to Ironwood's pitch.

**"Smarter, sleeker, and admittedly, a little less scary-looking,"** the Ironwood hologram stated while the robots made several poses from flexing their muscles to shooting some finger guns to the audience, and even waving at some points. **"These models will become active later this year, but they won't be alone. As much as the Atlesian army prefers to support the idea of removing men from the dangers of the battlefield, we are willing to admit that there will always be a need for a more human touch as well. After all, no simple drone can ever truly hope to show the same compassion or mercy as a human being."**

"Uh, Ruby…Sora…I think we should…" Penny started to say, hoping that she could persuade the two into leaving this. Too bad for her, Ruby loved all things that were related to weapons, and this definitely had her hooked, given how her eyes had widened a little as she moved to get closer for a slightly better look.

"Just hang on a minute, Penny. I kinda want to see where this leads," Sora insisted, his tone reassuring her that they would not be here for much longer.

**"So, our kingdom's greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company are proud to introduce…The Atlesian Paladin!"**

In an instant, Ironwood's hologram was replaced with one that showed the three-dimensional image of a massive mech battle suit, and it was most definitely armed to the teeth from what everyone could see. Not that it made the crowd any less impressed with what they were seeing right now, including Ruby and Sora. Though in the case of the latter, it also gave him a sense of familiarity.

"Wow! That kind of reminds me of some of the mech suits I could pilot…uh, when I visited another place a while back," Sora recalled, thinking of his adventures on the world of Toy Box, but unable to say it out loud since Penny was right there, and they were out in public.

Ruby barely noticed what Sora had said, and she was not much better in hearing Penny's next attempt at getting them to leave. "Ruby, Sora, maybe we should go somewhere else," the odd girl requested.

This time, Sora picked up on her mild distress, but before he could ask her what was wrong, something seemed to have caught her attention, and prompted Penny to turn around and take off at a very brisk run. Her sudden departure also helped snap Ruby out of any daydreams she was having about piloting an Atlesian Paladin, because she quickly spun around and called out, "Hey Penny! Where are you going now? Come back!"

"I don't think that she's really too fond of that idea, given how those guards seem to be running over here," Sora informed Ruby, having turned to locate the reason behind Penny's flight from the area.

Turning to where Sora was indicating, Ruby had no trouble spotting the guards that were running in their direction, and quickly figured out that Sora's suspicions were likely true, so she had no problem in turning to chase after her friend while thinking of ways that she could slow down or lose their pursuers. Sora was doing the same thing, but unfortunately, most of his ideas involved summoning out his Keyblade so he could perform some variety of magic, and there were too many people around for him to effectively use some of those tricks without blowing his secret. Luckily for them, it seemed that Penny's escape route led through a few back alleys with very few people, so Sora eventually had a little more freedom to work with in that regard. At least he thought he did, until Ruby saw him summon out Kingdom Key in preparation to fire off an ice spell that would freeze the guards' feet to the ground.

"No, wait! We don't know why they're chasing us, and I'd rather we not get into trouble or even arrested for assaulting Atlesian officers," Ruby cautioned as she grasped the arm Sora was aiming Kingdom Key with.

"Well do you have a better idea," Sora questioned as they began to round another bend.

As they came around said corner, Ruby spotted a weak, wooden structure that was holding up several large crates, and glancing back to see that the two officers had been held up by traffic, Ruby knew she would be able to implement it. "Get ready to make a quick rush," Ruby told Sora as she drew Crescent Rose.

Sora did not have time to ask what she meant by that, as the girl had already fired a shot from her scythe so that she could blast forward. As she went, the blade of her scythe easily cut through the supports holding the crates, creating a wall between her and the officers, but since Sora was not entirely sure what she had been planning, he ended up stuck on the wrong side of the wall. That was not going to stop Sora though, as thanks to a little wind magic and Flowmotion, he was easily propelled over the barricade and quickly bounced off the wall so that he could catch up with the girls.

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief at seeing Sora had not been left behind by her actions, but she knew that it would not be long for those guys to find a way around her barricade, and there was only one way she could think of to ensure that they lost them. Jumping up to and then running along the adjacent wall, Ruby quickly blasted over to Penny with her Semblance, and then wrapped her arms around the girl as she appeared next to her, ready to rebound off the wall next to Penny the minute she had reappeared.

"Hang on," Ruby shouted, and then with a concentrated effort, she blasted off again as fast her Semblance could take her.

"Hey! Wait for me," Sora shouted after them, still being carried along by his Flowmotion magic, and he easily repeated Ruby's actions of bouncing off the walls to catch up, even if his wall jumping did include more rebounds off of the walls than Ruby's had.

The only problem with Ruby's idea was that she was not used to carrying other people while using her Semblance, and it ended up tiring her out a lot quicker than she was expecting. As a result, she ended up dropping down to the ground just as she and Penny were reaching the end of the alleyway, with Penny slipping from her grasp on the first impact against the asphalt. As if they did not have enough problems, Ruby's stop had ended up sending her tumbling into the middle of a busy street, while Sora, who had not been expecting it any more than she was, ended up overshooting where Ruby was and too far away from where Ruby had landed. Because of that, Sora could barely even think of trying to correct his path before Ruby heard a loud truck horn blaring at her from behind.

Ruby had instantly turned into a regular deer-in-headlights when she realized where she was, and had only just managed to get to her feet before she saw the truck barreling towards her. Even then, she saw that Sora was too far away to reach her in time before she was hit, despite his best efforts to do so, but thankfully, Sora was not the only one to see the danger approaching her. Penny had been able to get to Ruby fast enough to shove her out of the way, but instead of moving along with her, Penny just remained where she was with her arms up like she was planning to stop the truck. Right when Ruby and Sora were about to scream for Penny to get out of the way, the truck came to a hard stop after slamming right into said girl, and much to their surprise, Penny looked perfectly fine.

"Whoa…" Sora gasped, just as wide-eyed as Ruby was at the sight of Penny actually stopping a truck like that.

"Penny…What just…" Ruby barely managed to mutter. Sure, she was too far away for Penny to really hear her, but that did not seem to register for Ruby due to the shock of what she had just witnessed.

Penny did not seem like she was taking either Ruby or Sora's reactions too well, because after making sure the driver was okay, she quickly clenched her hands shut, and ran off again, obviously upset by the terrified looks that her two friends were giving her at the moment. "Wait! Penny, come back," Ruby called out as she chased after Penny again, the crowd that was gathering around the scene of the crash blocking their previous pursuers even further than they already had been.

"Penny," Sora shouted after her as he joined in on Ruby's chase. When they finally found her again, Penny seemed to be frantic, like she was desperately trying to find some way to hide from anyone and anything. Too bad for her that would not have made a difference in the case of Ruby or Sora. "Penny, please don't run from us," Sora pleaded as he and Ruby finally caught up.

"We just want to know what's going on," Ruby insisted. "Why are you running from those guys? How did you do that just now?!"

"I-I can't. Everything's fine," Penny insisted, only to suddenly hiccup a second later. She then folded her arms so that the two could not see her hands, and rapidly added, "I don't want to talk about it!" Once again, Penny hiccupped after speaking, and Sora was starting to get a sneaking suspicion about the reason why that was happening.

"Penny, calm down. It's just me and Sora. If you could just tell us what's wrong we might be able to help you," Ruby tried to reassure her to no avail.

"No, no, no, you wouldn't understand," Penny argued, making the other two think that she was likely to start crying at any second now with how frantic she seemed to be.

"You can't know that if you don't give us a chance to try. You can trust us, Penny. After all, we're your friends," Sora promised.

That seemed to give Penny a little more encouragement, but she still needed total reassurance from them both. "You mean that? You really mean it when you say that you're my friends? You promise?"

"Of course. We promise," Ruby confidently replied, feeling like she was ready for anything Penny could tell them.

It turned out that Ruby was not quite as ready as she thought, because Penny's answer left her very surprised, even after seeing how any cuts that Penny's hands had suffered revealed metallic joints beneath her skin. "Ruby…Sora…I'm not a real girl," Penny stated.

"…Oh," was all Ruby could say right then. She had not expected that at all.

Sora on the other hand was a slightly different story. "Huh. That's…actually kind of cool," he admitted out loud, surprising Penny a little. Not that she had much time to think on it before Sora asked his next question. "But why would you think that you're not real?"

Penny was a little happy to see that Sora was so accepting of this, so she felt a little more comfortable talking about this. "Most girls are born, but I was made," Penny explained. "I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an aura. But even with fake skin and nice clothes, it's hard to really hide or run from the fact that I'm still a machine and not a living being."

"Of course you are," Ruby suddenly said, grasping Penny's hands as if to better affirm that for her. "You really think because you've got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts changes any of that? Or that it makes you any less real than me and Sora?"

"Yeah, Penny. You're not like those robots we saw back at the presentation. You've got something that they don't: a heart, a soul, and a conscience," Sora added with a friendly smile.

"I don't, um…" Penny stuttered, taken off-guard by how sure the two sounded. "How do you know any of that?"

"Because if there's one thing I've learned in all the time that I've spent on all of the journeys that I've had, it's how to know for certain that someone has a heart," Sora revealed, already going into one of his usual speeches about the subject. "They're not just something you can program or put into a person. Hearts are things that grow inside of us, give us strength, and help us learn to feel. You can smile, laugh, care for others, get scared, even cry, and you have to have a heart at the very least to do any of those things. Besides, last I checked, aura is the manifestation of your soul, so by that logic, you can't generate an aura without a soul."

"Well then, what about that last one? A conscience," Penny asked, pointing out that Sora had only explained his reasons for believing two of those things he listed her having.

"That should be easy to figure out," Ruby answered for him. "You chose to help us in the past when our friends were missing, and when you saw me and Sora get attacked, you chose to stay help us fight those guys at the docks when you had every reason to run away."

"Well why wouldn't I? I mean, don't friends help each other whenever they're able to," Penny asked.

"Of course, and that right there is proof that you have a conscience," Ruby insisted.

Penny did not really understand what was going on right now. She had been so sure that Ruby and Sora would have been afraid or at least a lot more startled if they ever learned her secret, and yet, they did not seem to be having any problems with it at all. It did not make any sense to her, and she said so as well. "You're both taking this extraordinarily well."

"Hey, it's just like Sora said; you're not like those things we saw back there, because you've definitely got a heart, a soul, and a conscience. I can feel it just as much as he can," Ruby reaffirmed for her.

"Besides, you really think you're the first friend I've made that was actually a robot or something," Sora asked. "If I ever get the chance, I should introduce you to Baymax at some point, a robot that was built to be a healthcare companion and yet is willing to fight to keep people safe. Heck, one of my friends is a computer program named Tron, and he's just as human as anyone else I've ever met."

Penny was not entirely sure what to make of Sora's claims, but right now, none of that mattered to her. She was just too happy with the underlying message that the two were giving her, and it certainly showed in how she lit up like a Christmas tree and pulled the two in for a tight hug. "Oh Ruby! Sora! You two are the best friends anyone could have," Penny happily cheered, not entirely aware that she might have been suffocating her best friends with her hug.

"Yeah, thanks for that," Sora choked out. "But, do you think you could lighten up on your grip? I can't breathe!"

"I think I can see why your father would want to protect such a delicate flower," Ruby muffled out, having just as much trouble breathing as Sora, but still being completely honest in what she said. Penny was so innocent that it made her look like Yang.

"Oh, he's very sweet," Penny praised as she released the two. "My father's the one that built me! I'm sure you would just love him."

"Boy does that sound familiar," Sora remarked to himself, thinking of his old friends Pinocchio and Geppetto when he heard that.

"That's impressive, especially if he built you all by himself," Ruby told Penny.

"Well, almost all by himself. He had some help from Mister Ironwood," Penny clarified.

"The general," Ruby gasped in surprise.

"That probably would explain why you're so good in a fight, and why you have weapons at all," Sora said. Of course, knowing that also made him think back to the people they were just running from, and he just had to ask about the conclusion he came to after thinking of that. "Wait, is that why those soldiers were chasing you just now?"

"They like to protect me too," Penny admitted.

"Don't you think you could've mentioned that a little sooner? Like before I considered trying to shoot ice at them," Sora questioned.

"Well, they tend to be a little more protective than my father at times," Penny shrugged. "If it were up to them, I probably wouldn't ever get to go outside."

"Still sounds silly to me," Ruby scoffed. "What, do they think you can't protect yourself?"

"They're not sure if I'm ready yet," Penny admitted. "One day, it will be my job to save the world, but I still have a lot left to learn. That's why my father let me come to the Vytal Festival. I want to see what it's like in the rest of the world, and test myself in the tournament."

Sora certainly liked Penny's reason for coming to the festival. After all, it was not too different from the original reason why he wanted to travel to other worlds, and after competing in the tournaments at Olympus Coliseum, he knew just how perfect a fighting tournament could be for helping someone test their strength. Ruby was no different in that line of thought, but there was something about what Penny said that made her a little confused.

"Uh Penny, what do you mean 'save the world'? What could you need to save the world from when we're in a time of peace," Ruby asked.

"Mister Ironwood doesn't seem to think so, given some of the things he's said," Penny revealed, much to Sora and Ruby's confusion. Just before they could further question her on the matter though, they all heard someone approaching, and they had a pretty good guess as to who it was. Penny was especially concerned now as she turned to Ruby and Sora, and said, "You two have to hide!"

"Wait, what," was all that Sora could ask before Penny suddenly hefted both him and Ruby up over her shoulder so that she could carry them both into a hiding spot. "Hey! Penny, put us down! This isn't funny!"

"What're you doing, Penny?! You don't have to go with them! We can help you," Ruby frantically insisted, but her pleas did nothing to save her and Sora from being thrown into the garbage dumpster that Penny chose to hide them in. "Ewwwww! Penny!"

"It's okay, you guys, they're not bad people," Penny reassured the two with a smile of her own. "I just don't want to get you two into trouble. Just promise me you won't tell anyone about my secret. Okay?"

Seeing how serious Penny was, Ruby and Sora could not help but smile back, glad to hear that Penny was not going to get into too much trouble for that scene back there and more than willing to show her that she could trust them. "I promise," Ruby nodded.

"Yeah, me too," Sora confirmed. "After all, we're friends, right Penny?"

"Right," Penny nodded in thanks, and with that, she let the two duck down so she could close the lid, hiding them from view.

The two then listened as Penny spoke with the soldiers, smiling a little at some points more than others, but ultimately could not help but raise the lid just enough so that they could peek out and see what was happening. You could not imagine just how relieved they were to see Penny following the officers willingly, and without being so much as cuffed, and despite the fact they were upset by the "scratches" that Penny got on her hands, they did not seem too upset with her either, so that served as all the more reassurance that Ruby and Sora needed to know that Penny would be okay.

When the three were finally out of sight, Sora thought back to how Penny had hiccupped every time she lied, and then remarked, "You know, it's a good thing Jiminy's not here. He'd probably insist on going with her so that he could chew her out for fibbing, even if it was for a good reason."

Ruby snickered a little at that, until she heard a rat screeching somewhere beneath her feet and jumped back out of fright, forgetting that Sora was behind her when she did. "Ew, ew, ew! Get it away! Get it away," Ruby pleaded.

"OW! Ruby, careful! You're crushing me," Sora protested from underneath the girl while doing everything he could to keep his hands from ending up somewhere that they should not be, a rather difficult feat given their small range of space at the moment.

Unfortunately for Sora, his attempts all proved futile, and Ruby was too quick to notice something was off for him to try and correct the mistake. "Uh, S-Sora, is-is that your hand on my butt," Ruby asked, her face bright red in embarrassment.

Sora instantly froze where he was, while his voice ended up caught in his throat for a moment, at least until he finally choked out, "I swear this was not intentional."

* * *

In another part of town, Yang's bike had just come to a screeching halt in the shady part of Vale, and right outside a very familiar location. It was actually rather impressive to her that the place was able to open up again so soon after the way she had been forced to demolish it, but she was not here for any of the fun that this club could offer; she was here on business. Sure, that was her reason for being here last time, but that was of a more personal nature, and this was likely to be more fruitful too.

"Come on. My friend's right in here," Yang told her two passengers as she shook her head to free up her mane of hair after getting her helmet off.

"Okay, before we go in, I've gotta ask: is this guy an actual friend, or should we expect people to point to weapons at us…again," Lea questioned. It was not entirely playful either, because just about half of the clubs that Yang had taken him to on their previous dates had led to that very scenario. Apparently, Yang had trashed quite a few clubs/bars while in pursuit of what had led her to this particular club. That, or because some idiot had damaged her hair in some form or fashion.

"Oh, loosen up, Lea. Besides, it's not like these guys would actually be able to do anything to us if they tried," Yang brushed off.

"That's not an answer to my question," Lea pointed out just before he noticed that Neptune was still sitting on the back of Yang's bike with a dazed expression on his face, no doubt from the shock of Yang's driving. "Hey Blue-Boy, light a fire under it before I have to do it for you, and it won't be in the metaphorical sense."

Hearing that was certainly encouragement enough for Neptune to shake off his dazed state and follow after them. "So, how exactly are we doing this? Like a good-cop, bad-cop thing," He asked.

"Mmm, I think at this point it would be more like good-cop, bad-cop, rookie-cop," Lea corrected. He then looked Neptune over a second time before then amended, "Actually, that doesn't feel as intimidating. Let's make that bad-cop, worse-cop, rookie-cop."

"Hey," Neptune almost wined, mainly because Lea had pointed to him each time he had said rookie-cop.

"Just calling it like it is, bud," Lea waved off. His humor ended up vanishing though when he saw how the bouncer took one look at Yang and then rushed to lock the door while shouting for someone to barricade the entrance to the club proper. "Yep. We're gonna have weapons pointed at us in a minute."

"Like I said, lighten up," Yang remarked, and the next thing either boy knew, she had kicked the front entrance open. Even though the next door was so big, and obviously reinforced, Yang and her friends could still somehow hear the guys all frantically shouting on the other side, but the blonde did not pay it too much mind. She was too busy readying one of her gauntlets to fire, and when it did, the door ended up being blasted open, allowing her to make an explosive entrance while strutting into the room. "Guess who's back," Yang called out to the room at large, grinning a little more at hearing one of her favorite songs playing over the speakers.

Apparently these people remembered her quite well, because literally every thug in the room was quick to draw their guns and not only pointed them at her, but practically shoved them in her face, out of fear if nothing else. This did not bother Yang at all; it just made her a little happier knowing that these guys were scared of her to this point. In fact, her smile only fell when the music started cutting out and skipping rapidly, making her glare at the DJ in the music booth until the man in question finally just brought the music to a total stop.

When Lea stepped forward so that he could be seen by all, he glanced at all the guns pointed at them and found that he could only say one thing. "I've said it before and I'll say it again, Hot-Stuff. You really know how to show a guy a good time."

"Yeah, any chance you could define 'good time' for me? Maybe while she's telling me her definition of 'friend,'" Neptune requested, clearly much more uneasy about all the guns than the other two were.

"Stop, stop! Nobody be stupid and shoot," someone ordered, and stepping forward was the man in charge of the club himself, decked out in the same attire he wore when Yang had blasted him out of a window not too long ago, and looking none the worse for wear. Clearing his throat after making it to the front he looked to Yang and said, "Blondie! You're back again. Why?" His fear became a bit more apparent as he rapidly asked, "Please tell me that the reason won't get my business destroyed again."

"Only if your little boys here don't try and start another fight with me, Junior," Yang easily replied, not making any promises one way or the other. "Besides, you still owe me a drink, as a start."

"And beyond that…" Junior prompted as Yang marched forward.

"I may need to pick your head about a few other things I'm…concerned with," Yang admitted, having to pause as she carefully chose her words near the end. She then glanced back at Lea and added, "Oh, by the way, you should know that if we don't get any answers, my redheaded friend over there is likely to get mad a lot sooner than me, and his temper can be quite fiery."

"Emphasis on the 'fire,'" Lea growled in intimidation as he snapped his fingers to conjure up a small blaze.

Junior quickly got the idea, and gulped with a nod to show he understood before waving for the three to follow him to the bar, sending his men a glare to say that he wanted the mess cleaned up, and like that, the three were left alone. "So…what is it you want," Junior asked once he was behind the bar again.

"Anything you've got on Roman Torchwick," Yang stated, getting straight to the point.

"Is that all? You can watch the news for anything on that guy," Junior scoffed as he picked up a glass to polish.

"Not if we want to know about things like regular meeting places or possible hideouts," Yang clarified. "Besides, I know that you hired out some of your thugs to him not that long ago, and I'm guessing that it wasn't the first or last time either, something I'm sure that the police would _love_ to hear about."

Hearing that, Junior set down the glass he was polishing with a heavy sigh, not willing to take a chance on the possibility that the girl might be bluffing, and said, "Sorry Blondie, can't help you."

A minute later he had to back away in order to keep his beard from getting singed by Lea as he suddenly lit a flame in his direction. "Oh I'm sorry. Did you want to rephrase that," the redhead questioned.

"H-Hey, calm down, you crazy pyro," Junior pleaded, only for the flame Lea was holding to grow a little in size. "Uh, I mean Crazy Pyro, sir! What I meant was that I can't help you because I don't know."

Yang placed a hand on Lea's shoulder, signaling him to back off, and once Lea had, she said, "I can't say for certain if I'll be able to control him for long, so you might want to explain fast as to how you couldn't know about that."

"Because I haven't talked to him since the night you first came in here," Junior quickly answered. "He paid upfront, I lent him my men, and none of them ever came back."

_'Pretty sure I have a good idea why,'_ Yang thought to herself, knowing that some of those men were likely the ones that Ruby had beat up on the night that she met Ozpin and got her early acceptance into Beacon.

They were all startled out of their thoughts when Neptune suddenly cut in and asked, "So where did they go?"

Everyone just looked at the blue-haired boy like he was an idiot, and if you were to ask Junior, it was with good reason. "What kind of stupid question is that? They never came back," the club owner repeated, shutting Neptune down in an instant. He then looked back to Yang and asked, "Who is this guy?"

Neptune let out a yelp as the spot he was resting his hand on suddenly became way too hot, no doubt because of Lea, as said redhead glare at Junior and said, "I wouldn't worry about him if I were you. Just worry about me and what may happen if we don't get what we're looking for, especially if your place doesn't have an insurance policy that covers…fire damage."

Junior looked worriedly between Lea and Yang until the blonde ultimately shrugged and said, "Hey, you heard the man. Might as well try and give us something."

"Look, I already told you everything that I know! Torchwick hired my boys and I guess he wasn't happy with them," Junior insisted. He then turned to glare at some of the guys that were cleaning up the mess Yang's entrance had made and shouted, "Which is something I can relate to!"

"Yang, I'm starting to lose my patience. I _need_ to burn something. Right now," Lea growled, scaring Junior a little more.

Yang had to admit, she was impressed with Lea's acting skills because he was even making her think for a second that he was an uncontrollable pyromaniac. She quickly focused back on Junior though, and said, "You might want to think of something you can give us, or really anything."

Junior scrambled around in his mind for something that could hopefully satisfy these crazy teens, until he finally struck what he could only assume was gold. "Look, Torchwick had been hiring my guys for a lot of robberies even before that night you first came in, but there was actually one time that he did come back in, and it was only to say that he wasn't going to be doing business with me anymore," Junior quickly admitted.

"Why," Yang asked.

"Said he found someone better, and the next thing I know, these weird, silver…things suddenly started flying around the room, some of them with swords, knives, scythes, crossbows, or some kind of weird hammers. When I asked him about them, he just said they were the better option and left, after letting some of them tear my guys apart," Junior revealed.

Looking over to Lea, Yang saw the redhead give her a silent nod in response to her silent question, and that was all the reason she needed to look back at Junior and say, "Thanks. You've been a bigger help than you know. C'mon boys."

Neptune immediately followed after Yang, Lea stayed where he was for a few seconds, staring Junior down before he finally smirked and said, "If it makes you feel any better, you're not the only who has trouble finding good help. It seems like it's becoming harder and harder to find good thugs these days. That's part of the reason why I ultimately jumped ship from the side that dabbles in icky jobs." He then turned back to his menacing act as he added, "But that doesn't mean I won't indulge in it again when necessary, especially if I find out there was anything you didn't think to tell us about it. Got it memorized?"

Junior could only nod with a very meek sound, and that was the final cue needed to take his leave and catch up with other two. "So…did we get everything we need," Neptune asked once they were all out of earshot.

"Well, we got everything we can," Yang stated, obviously disappointed that it was so little, until she recalled one piece of information that could possibly help a little bit. "So, any chance you recognize the Nobodies he mentioned."

"You don't even need to ask," Lea admitted. "Obviously you already know about the ones that use crossbows, or something similar to said weapon, would be the Snipers, and since Dusks are even easier to identify if they use weapons, I can already tell you what the others most likely are. The two easiest ones to name would be the scythe and knife users; those would be Reapers and Ninjas, respectively, the Dusks that were most directly connected with my old buddies Marluxia and Larxene. Never did like either of those two very much. The ones with the hammers are most definitely Berserkers, Isa's old underlings from his time as Saïx. We're gonna have to be really careful if we run into any of those guys, because they're not just big; they're really tough, and their attacks hurt. A_ lot_. Trust me on that."

"And what about the ones with the swords," Neptune asked.

"Yeah…those are the ones I'm actually a little concerned about, but not for the reason you're probably thinking of," Lea admitted. "My best guess, which is most likely the correct one, would be that they're Samurais, and there's a chance that may be more or less of a problem for us in the future."

"Why's that," Yang asked.

"Well…Those were the Dusks that answered most directly to the original Organization's Number XIII," Lea answered as carefully as he could. Just because Roxas and Xion had revealed their past to Blake, who had eventually convinced the two to tell the rest of Team RWBY at the very least, did not mean that he was able to talk about it with just anyone now, so Lea was hoping that Yang would catch on to what he meant.

Thankfully, Yang did catch his hidden message, judging by the faint nod she gave in return, while it went sailing over Neptune's head. "Who's this Number XIII guy? Was he any good, or dangerous," he asked.

"Oh yeah, he's probably one of the toughest members, and he was especially dangerous if you pissed him off. He beat me and Sora's best friend, Riku when he fought against us. We're actually pretty lucky that he jumped ship before Sora started his hunt for the first Organization, and was on our side during the Second Keyblade War," Lea told the blue-haired kid.

"Well, either way, at least this didn't end up being a complete waste of time," Yang remarked, helping Lea to divert Neptune from the topic before the redhead said anything that would allow Neptune to connect the dots between Roxas and Number XIII. "I just hope the others are having better luck than we are."

Both boys had to agree with that sentiment. It was not like any of the others were in any danger of being attacked at any second, right?

* * *

Somewhere across town from where Yang's team was, Blake was checking over the various signs that they needed to locate in order to find the location for the White Fang's latest faction meeting. The three slash marks on a wall were just one clue, but in order to be absolutely sure, she had to look over at where the entrance most likely was, and sure enough, there were a few Faunus being allowed into a random, otherwise unused warehouse. "This is it," Blake informed her three teammates.

"You sure," Sun asked.

Roxas and Xion both then turned to the guy, silently asking the same question that Blake's glare was, but only the former actually put it into words. "Did you seriously just ask her that, or did you just suddenly forget who you're talking to," Roxas asked.

"Okay, okay. You've made your point," Sun conceded while raising his hands in surrender. "So, we doing this or what?"

"Give me a second to slip into something a little more animalistic," Xion requested with a slightly joking smile.

The girl's joke may have gotten a small grin from Sun, but Blake just shot her a blank stare while Roxas rolled his eyes while waving his hand in the "so-so" gesture. "That wasn't bad, Xion, but you may want to keep working on your humor. And just to be clear, that means don't take lessons from Yang or Axel."

"Hey, they're better teachers than you," Xion teased, her joking smile not faltering in the slightest as her body began to glow, signaling that she was about to change into a Faunus form of her own.

When the light from Xion's transformation faded, Blake checked to make sure no one had noticed, and breathed a sigh of relief seeing that they were in the clear as she turned to take in Xion's Faunus form. The change was not as noticeable as Roxas's, but Xion did now have a new set of cat ears atop her head that Blake quickly recognized as being most similar to those of a panther. Further inspection allowed her to confirm that Xion had turned into a panther Faunus when she found that her fingers were now tipped with panther claws, but to be honest, she was still a little stuck on the more noticeable change Xion had taken on.

"I know you once said that my ears were cute, Xion, but on you, those panther ears of yours are just adorable," Blake complimented as she started to undo her bow, letting her own animal trait be visible. It would have made them a lot more noticeable if she were trying to hide her kitty ears at this rally.

"Aw, thanks," Xion cooed in reply, only to jump a bit when she suddenly felt someone petting her new ears. She already had a good idea who the culprit was. "Roxas! What're you doing?"

"Sorry, but I just…I wanted to see how they felt," Roxas sheepishly apologized, still petting his girlfriend's cat-like ears.

"Well give me a little more warning…next…Oooh, that actually feels really good," Xion sighed happily after a few minutes, encouraging Roxas to keep going when she did. His petting ended up coming to a complete halt when a very interesting sound escaped from Xion's throat, startling them both.

"Did…Did you just purr," Roxas asked, his surprise very apparent.

"Well, panthers are still cats, and as a panther Faunus, that technically makes her part cat," Blake shrugged like it was completely natural. When the two Keybearers looked at her in bewilderment, Blake went on to explain, "Younger Faunus tend to be more prone to the natural instincts of the animals who's traits they posses. It does tend to fade a little or become more manageable as they grow older, but since you two just turned yourselves into Faunus, I guess it's only natural that you're not as accustomed to your animal sides as Sun and I are to ours."

"Huh. You learn something new every day," Roxas muttered. "We're not going to have to worry about suddenly breaking into a run the minute we see a mouse or something, are we?"

That did get a brief giggle out of Blake before she said, "I think you'd probably know the answer to that better than me, but I don't think so, otherwise, you might have run off well before we got here, seeing as you've been transformed since we left." She then turned serious again and said, "Alright, let's get in there."

The other three all nodded in response and headed inside, each of them picking up a less stylized version of the masks that they had seen many White Fang members wearing after being allowed in. As they followed the rest of the crowd at a safe enough distance to not be overheard by anyone, Sun looked down at the mask in his hand again, his curiosity getting on this specific matter the better of him. "Hey Blake, there's something I don't really get," Sun said, earning him the attention of the cat girl. "If the members of the White Fang all believe what they're doing is right, why would they hide what they are, or even bother with these masks at all?"

"The masks aren't meant to hide who we are; they're a symbol," Blake revealed a little darkly. "Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters."

"But that just seems like you're giving them what they want," Roxas argued.

"He's right. Letting yourselves be made into monsters can only lead you into justifying their fears of you," Xion agreed.

"And that's without the fact that these are Grimm masks. That alone seems kind of dark," Sun added in.

"The guy who started it wasn't really a brilliant ray of sunshine, and as far as I know, he never really thought that way. All he cared about was making humanity fear him," Blake stated before she placed her mask on and made her way in, hiding a bit of the sorrow that had started creeping into her eyes at the memories she had of said individual from view.

"Always sunshine and rainbows with you, isn't it," Sun muttered as he followed after Blake, but not feeling any less uncomfortable after he put on his mask.

Roxas and Xion did not say anything more on the matter though, instead opting to don their masks as well while trying to ignore the familiar, dreadful feeling they got after doing so. It felt just a little too much like they were putting on their old Organization XIII coats again in their minds, but they did their best to stamp out that feeling for the sake of the mission like they did with most of their other concerns. Sadly, there was one concern that they were unable to completely silence, but it was one that they felt was at least a little justifiable.

"Are you sure no one's going to recognize you, Blake," Roxas whispered as they got closer to the main gathering. "I mean, you did say you'd been part of the White Fang for a long time before you left, so there could be a chance of that happening, right?"

"I wouldn't say that I was much of an important figure in the group, or at least, not on the same level as certain members or the previous or current leader, and besides, the White Fang is made up of hundreds of Faunus, in several factions all across Remnant. I doubt anyone's going to really be able to recognize one cat Faunus out of several others that easily, especially if they can't see my face," Blake reassured him.

"If you say so," Roxas nodded, not entirely buying it, but still willing to take Blake at her word on the matter.

Nothing else was said between the four friends as they finally came to a stop within the ranks of the other new recruits, just to the right of the regular White Fang members, and before a small stage that had a huge curtain covering most of it with the terrorist group's emblem emblazoned on the front. "Thank you all for coming out tonight," the White Fang member currently on stage began, seeing that everyone had arrived. "For those of you who are joining us for the first time, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours. I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought so long for."

It was at that very moment that Roman Torchwick himself appeared on stage, not looking the least bit concerned with all the booing, jeering, and angry outbursts that had followed his arrival. If anything, it seemed like he was actually reveling in it as he practically danced across the stage. "Thank you, thank you! Please, hold your applause," Roman shouted in an attempt to be heard over everyone.

"What is this?! Some kind of joke," someone in the crowd demanded.

"Why's a human here," another one protested.

"I'm glad you asked, dearie," Roman smirked in reply, signaling for quiet. Surprisingly, he seemed to get it, and he then proceeded on with his pitch. "Now I'll be the first to admit, humans are the WORST! Case in point," he remarked, waving to himself at that last remark. "So I understand why you would love to see us all locked away, or better yet, killed, but before the claws come out, I would like to mention the fact that you and I ALL have a common enemy."

"What's he going on about," Xion quietly questioned, honestly perplexed as to just who could be considered an enemy to both the White Fang and Torchwick, besides anyone who fought on the right side of the law.

Torchwick ended up providing Xion her answer, and it left the four a little worried. "Our greatest threats are the ones in control, the people pulling the strings, ALL the dirty rotten humans that run our kingdoms. The government. The military! Hell, even the schools are all to blame for your lot in life, and they're all pests that need to be dealt with! Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around." He had to pause here for a moment so that he could quickly add on, "No offense to any rodents in the room."

"Pretty sure it's a little too late for that," Roxas muttered under his breath, not liking how the crowd seemed to have been steadily won over by that whole speech. What he liked even less though was how the crowd got even more excited as Roman unveiled what was behind the curtain, but that may have been more of a dislike of what it likely meant for him and all the rest of his friends too when he saw the item in question.

When Roman snapped his fingers, the curtain dropped to reveal a massive mech suit that was armed to the teeth, and that would have reminded Roxas a little more of the robot toys that Sora had told him and the others he could pilot on Toy Box had it not been for the thing's dark, intimidating colors, and the White Fang emblem that had been painted on either shoulder. Seeing this huge death machine, Sun could not help but nervously say, "Uh, that's a big robot."

"How in the world did he get that," Blake asked, just as worried about it as her friends clearly were, but also a bit angry at how Torchwick just kept appearing to have access to resources he should not have.

"As some of you may have heard, this right here is the Atlesian Paladin, Atlas's newest line of defense against all the scary things in the world," Roman proudly revealed. "And thanks to my employers, we've managed to snag a few before they, uh, hit the shelves."

"You had to ask, Blake," Roxas grumbled.

"Here's hoping we won't end up having to fight that thing," Xion prayed, not knowing that she had more than likely just jinxed them by saying that.

"Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the south east. If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine, but if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in…This is the arsenal I can provide you," Roman finally concluded, and from the sound of the cheers, it seemed like all of these Faunus were more than ready to sign up for the operation he had mentioned.

None of that mattered at this point, as hearing that Roman had set up shop in the south east was the final piece of information that the four undercover heroes needed to feel that they had heard enough. "Anyone else feel that it's time to leave," Roxas asked.

"Definitely," Blake confirmed while Sun and Xion both just gave silent nods.

Too bad for them, it was actually at that moment that the new recruits were asked to step forward, and since they were right in the middle of that crowd, Blake, Sun, Roxas, and Xion had no choice but to be pulled along with the flow or risk being caught. They did their best to not get pulled all the way up, but there was only so much they could do before they found themselves at the stage and from there, it was only a matter of time before Roman noticed and recognized them. Even with their Faunus disguises, Roxas and Xion were sure that the criminal was likely to figure out who they were, which meant that they needed to think of a way out of this mess fast.

"If anyone's got a plan on how to get out of here, now would be a good time for it," Sun frantically requested.

"Calm down. If you panic, you're just going to give us away sooner," Roxas hushed.

"Not helping, dude!"

"Quiet! I'm thinking," Blake insisted as she surveyed the entire room.

Xion on the other hand kept her eyes on the stage for any moment that would indicate that Roman would likely notice them, making a few notes in her head about the small girl with pink and brown hair next to him. Oddly enough, it was actually that very girl who looked in their direction first, and something about the way her eyes seemed to fixate on her and Roxas sent a few shivers up Xion's spine. Shivers that she had not been able to suppress before Torchwick looked in their direction again, making Xion think that she may have to take some blame later on for getting them noticed.

"Uh Blake, you might want to think a little faster. Torchwick's seen us," Xion whispered to her fellow ravenette.

Hearing Xion's warning actually gave Blake an idea at last on how they could get out of this situation, and after another quick scan of the room, she managed to locate a junction box on the wall. Still, she had to be sure of a few things before she made her move, and looked to her two friends who were not actual Faunus. "Roxas, Xion, you remember that lesson we had in Oobleck's class last semester," she asked.

"Huh? Lesson," Roxas asked.

"I'm not a student, remember? I wasn't even in Vale for most of your previous semester," Xion reminded her.

Blake mentally smacked herself for forgetting that about Xion for a second, but pressed on with her questioning. "You know, the one about the advantage the Faunus had in the Battle of Fort Castle," Blake prompted.

"Oh right! I get it," Roxas grinned, catching on to Blake's idea, and the most likely question she was going to ask them after that reminder. "And yeah, I've got it, and I think it's a safe bet that Xion does too. These forms are a lot more than a simple cosmetic change."

"Will someone fill me in, please," Xion pleaded. She was starting to panic as much as Sun, but only because she saw that Torchwick was starting to make his way towards them.

"Faunus have enhanced senses, but the most common of which being the ability to see in the dark," Roxas revealed to Xion.

"And that's our ticket out of here," Blake finished for the blonde as she drew Gambol Shroud, switched it into its pistol mode, and fired a single shot at the junction box. When Blake's shot struck its mark, all the lights in the building went right out, driving everyone into a panic, while Roman tried shouting for someone to stop their group. Blake paid it little mind though, as she made sure that her group had kept their cool in the panic, and then directed them to their exit point. "Sun, Roxas, Xion! The window!"

"On it," the other three chorused in response.

Shortly after, the four had crashed through the nearest window and onto the street, where they all broke out into a hard sprint. For a moment, it seemed like they would manage to get away without any further complications, but that was before the mech suit they had seen on the stage came crashing out of the building to chase after them. It was at that very moment that Roxas and Xion both cursed a little for not getting Sora, Aqua, or Riku to teach them how to use Flowmotion or even Airstep, because that ability would have come in real handy right now. All the more reason for them to be thankful that they had not changed out of their Faunus forms just yet, because that allowed them to better reach the rooftops with Blake and Sun, and then continue to keep pace with the pair as they hopped over the line of roofs in an attempt to lose their massive pursuer.

Even with all the advantages they had in keeping ahead of the mech, it was still not enough to shake it off, and they knew that the person inside was likely to start using any or all of the weapons on that thing at any moment to get them, which would definitely lead to someone getting hurt. All this and more was reason enough for Sun to ask, "I don't suppose you guys have any kind of backup or something, would you?"

"On it," Blake replied as she attempted to grab her Scroll and call the rest of her team.

"I'm already way ahead of you," Roxas informed her, tapping away at his Gummiwatch so that he could get in touch with his teammates and the rest of their friends.

* * *

Sora could not help but shake his head out of amusement as he watched Ruby continue to nail more and more boards all over the dumpster they had previously been forced to hide in. Any awkwardness between them after their little…accident had already passed, but that did not make Ruby any less upset with the literal rat that was responsible for the whole thing in the first place. "You know, I'm pretty sure someone's going to need to use that at some point later," Sora pointed out to his friend.

"Don't care! Need to make sure that the rat either dies or can never escape," Ruby insisted as she struck one final nail into the board she was currently hammering into place.

As he watched Ruby stand up, finally finished with her work, Sora could already feel the need to joke about giving a warning to Little Chef if they visited him in the future coming to his lips, but he stopped short when he noticed something was off with the girl. "Hey, you've still got some stuff stuck in your hair," Sora informed her, indicating his own hair when he did. Ruby immediately went to brush out the junk in question, only to miss it completely. "Other side," Sora clarified, but to his amusement, Ruby missed again. "Here, let me," he finally offered with a short laugh.

Ruby was just about to say that she could get it when she suddenly found Sora standing really close to her, swiping his hand through her hair as he removed the bothersome trash from it. The fact that he was standing so close was enough to make Ruby start blushing, but feeling him running his hands through her black and red locks seemed to be the icing on the cake for her, as her stomach began doing more summersaults than ever before. She barely even noticed when he finally stopped his brushing, and she felt like her voice might have cracked a little as she barely managed to squeak out, "Uh, th-thanks, Sora. Is…Is it gone."

"Yep. It's all…better…now," Sora slowly confirmed with a smile, until he started to take note of their current positions as well, his hand still held within Ruby's bangs.

The next thing he knew, Sora had slowly let his hand finish its run through Ruby's hair before he absently started to caress her bright red cheeks, making her blush grow all the more while her silver eyes seemed to shine in a way he had never seen before. It was almost like the night sky had taken up residence in Ruby's eyes with how they were twinkling like stars, at least in Sora's mind, and he just could not look away at all. More than that, something about the feel of her against his hand was giving him quite the odd feeling in his stomach, while at the same time made him feel like Ruby was drawing him into her without realizing it, and for a brief second or two, a fleeting thought entered his mind; a question of whether or not her lips were just as soft as her hair and skin seemed to be.

Things were not much better on Ruby's end, as the minute that she felt Sora's hand against her cheek, a whole new sensation had suddenly burst to life inside of her. She found herself taking a great deal of joy in how his gloved hand gently caressed her skin, his fingers slightly rough from all the time he had spent wielding the Keyblade, and yet still surprisingly smooth at the same time. Before she knew it, she was raising her own hand up to keep Sora's where it was on her cheek, almost as though she were afraid of what would happen if he let go, and her eyes came to be fixated on his. Once again, she saw that same fire she always saw when she looked into Sora's eyes, but there was something else there that she had not seen before. It was a little similar to what she had saw that time in the Emerald Forest, or even a few other times that she had met his eyes, but at the same time, it was also incredibly different; something that just seemed to pull her closer as if she could get a better understanding by getting closer.

Apparently, neither of them had realized that they were actually moving closer to each other, slowly closing the distance between them to the point where they could feel the other's breath on their lips, and even then, they did not stop their slow advancement. Before either of them knew it, the gap that divided them had finally closed, as their lips connected in a gentle, sweet kiss. From that very moment, it felt as though a brilliant display of fireworks were being set off in their minds while the rest of the world just disappeared from around them, along with any troubles or dangers that existed in it. Nothing else mattered to them in that moment other than the person that was standing before them, sharing in the incredible feeling that they were experiencing with each other. There was no kingdom, no school, no teammates, not even a single thought regarding their missions was able to exist in their minds right then. All that existed right now was a moment of paradise that was exclusive to Sora Hikari and Ruby Rose.

The problem with such moments of euphoria though, was that they could never last forever, but what made this one even more upsetting was how it came to an end. When he had finally realized what he was doing, Sora quickly pulled away and put as much distance as he could between him and Ruby, a look of near panic now taking residence in his eyes where there had once been such warmth. "No! No, no, I…I shouldn't have done that. I should _not_ have done that," Sora frantically said, unaware right now of whether or not he was keeping quiet or shouting.

He was not screaming, but his words may as well have been a knife to poor Ruby, as she could only stare at him in sad shock. She had not been planning or expecting to suddenly kiss Sora like that, but it was definitely a moment that had made her feel incredibly happy. Hearing him say what he did while freaking out like this had crushed all of that happiness faster than she could move with her Semblance, because in Ruby's ears, it sounded way too much like a rejection, right to the point where she could feel cracks starting to form in her heart. Because of this, Ruby could not think much more clearly than Sora right now, otherwise, she probably would have been able to figure out a good way to help calm him down. Instead, the only thing she could think of was to meekly say, "I…I'm sorry."

Hearing Ruby's voice did at least bring Sora back to reality, but it did nothing to make him feel much better about what had just happened. Worse than that, when he saw how upset Ruby looked, he immediately had to turn away, feeling responsible to the point where he could not even look at her. At that point, the awkwardness from their earlier mishap returned stronger than before, but now, there was a new weight to it that neither of them knew how to address. All they could really do was pray that something came up that would alleviate them from this tense atmosphere, preferably something that could help them forget about this whole thing for even a second. Their prayers were answered pretty quickly when Sora's Gummiphone and Gummiwatch both started ringing, letting them know that Sora had an incoming call, and the boy did not hesitate to tap his watch so that he could answer.

_"Guys, it's Roxas! If you're getting this, we're in a bit of…"_ the wielder of Oathkeeper and Oblivion shouted over the speaker, only for his voice to be drowned out a second later by a loud racket in the background, and Sun's panicked yelling.

"Roxas? What's going on? What happened," Sora asked, now more worried for his friend than anything else, right to the point where he did not even mind that Ruby had gotten closer so that she could better listen in.

_"Torchwick was at the rally showing off some new additions to his arsenal, he spotted us, and now we're being chased by a freaking mech suit,"_ Xion cried out.

"A what," Ruby asked, though it was hard to tell if she had gotten more worried or excited after hearing that last bit.

_"They got a robot! A big robot! Really big,"_ Sun rushed out in obvious panic.

_"It's like one of those Gigas that you could pilot back in Toy Box, but with a lot more weapons, all of which are likely to be used on us at any second,"_ Roxas clarified.

"Oh, we are not missing this," Ruby decided, eager to get into that fight for so many reasons, and now starting to seem a little more like her usual self.

Sora smiled a little when he noticed that, but he quickly shook it off when his mind started drawing him back to their kiss from a few seconds ago. The last thing he needed right now was to be distracted by something that had left him so…boggled, for lack of a better word. Their friends needed help, and Sora had no doubt that the rest of the team was already on the way to their location.

* * *

Ruby and Sora were not the only ones to receive Roxas's call for help, as the dual-Keyblade wielder had made it a point to make send out his SOS over a conference call, meaning that Ventus and Lea had also received the same alert. It was actually at the very moment that Yang, Lea, and Neptune were preparing to leave Junior's club, and they had listened in on everything that Ruby and Sora had just heard, and a little more too.

_"That Torchwick guy is in it! But not like…it didn't eat him; he's like controlling it or something,"_ Sun had continued on in his panicked explanations.

_"That's called driving or piloting! He's driving the thing, Sun,"_ Xion had snapped from her end of the call.

"Don't worry we'll be there as soon as we can. Where are you guys right now," Lea asked before his best friends tore the monkey boy a new one.

His answer came quickly enough when the four actually ran right past his group with the mech hot on their tails, making Sun's next scream end up being in stereo. "HURRY!"

"I think that was them," Neptune informed the two.

"Really? We couldn't tell," Yang sarcastically replied. She had not meant to sound harsh with him, but at the moment, they had a small problem that would make chasing after the bad guy currently trying to hurt their friends a little difficult. "There's no way I can chase them on Bumblebee with two passengers. Not without worrying even more about one of you falling off."

"No worries. I've got it covered," Lea admitted as he summoned out his Keyblade with an excited grin. "Ven's been teaching me a little trick with the Keyblade that I've been dying to use ever since I got it down."

Yang and Neptune were now a little curious, so they remained where they were for a second to watch what the redhead was going to do. To their surprise, Lea actually tossed his Keyblade high up into the air, and then, in a flash of light and fire, the blade actually transformed into a flying motorcycle chopper, with small flames decals on either side to make its silver and red paint job all the more noticeable. That was pretty much all that they had time to really notice, as Lea had quickly hopped onto the bike as soon as it had gotten close to him again, and with a rev of its engine, he was shooting off after it, with a flicker of flames shooting out from the exhausts on the back.

The other two could not help but stare after Lea for a few more seconds, Neptune wondering if he had really just seen that happen, while Yang eventually started to slowly grin a little more with each passing second. "Yang likey. Yang like a lot," the blonde finally said. "The next chance we get after this, we are _so_ having a race."

Neptune barely had time to give his own opinion, because he had to scramble to grab a secure hold on the bike as Yang gunned the engine and took off after their friends as well. Thankfully their chase had eventually gotten out of the main city, but the bad news was that it had now moved onto a very busy highway. That did not stop Yang or Lea, more so in the case of the latter since his ride could fly over the other cars on the street, but it was still making things a bit more difficult since they now had to weave through the evening traffic. Torchwick had his own way of dealing with the other drivers, and that was to fling as many cars aside as he could, clearing his path forward and also creating more obstacles for the two to get through.

"Someone's going to get hurt if he keeps this up," Lea shouted over to Yang.

"I know! Any ideas on how we can slow him down at least," the blonde questioned.

"I've got one, assuming you can get a little closer so I have a good shot," Neptune stated.

Yang just nodded back to him and accelerated forwards, weaving through the flying and crashed cars as best as she could in an effort to close the gap between them and Torchwick's mech. Her efforts were rewarded quickly enough by Neptune drawing his weapon in its rifle mode so that he could fire off several rounds of electric blasts at the machine's back, damaging it a pretty decent amount from what they could tell, and the blue haired boy was not done yet. With an easy twirl of his weapon, Neptune extended it into its trident mode, energy blade glowing bright and ready for when he struck, and then leapt from Yang's motorcycle to score a hit on the mech's back. It was an impressive strike, but at the same time, it also left Neptune stuck on its back, struggling to hang on to the staff of his weapon in an effort to not be thrown off.

Sun had taken notice of his friend's situation soon enough, and halted his attempts at getting away from the deadly machine so he could activate his Semblance. With a clap of his hands, a pair of glowing shadow clones burst to life on either side of Sun, and they all immediately rushed at the mech, exploding the moment that they made contact with the machine that was practically holding his friend hostage. That attack seemed to have disoriented Torchwick quite a bit in Sun's eyes, given the way that he drew his staff to make another strike on his own, but unfortunately, that was where he was wrong. All it did was make things a little easier for Roman to finally throw Neptune off, and right into Sun while he was in midair, sending both boys flying away from their friends.

Even though she knew that the two would probably be alright, Blake could not help but worry about Sun and Neptune after seeing them fall from the highway. Despite that, she had to keep her cool; otherwise, they were all likely going to end up in a worse spot than them, and it became a lot easier when she heard Xion shout that she was going to go and make sure they were okay. Shortly after that came another bit of help for Blake's calm state of mind in the form of Weiss's voice calling out over her Scroll's hands-free, _"Blake! We're in position!"_

Not even seconds later, Weiss and Ventus had dropped down from the street running over the one Blake and her pursuer were on, weapons ready and gazes locked onto their target. An easy thrust of his hand later, and Ven was summoning out a powerful but steady blast of wind magic that would make one think he was trying to blow the mech back. In reality, he was just ensuring that Weiss had time to prepare her own attack, which would also guarantee that this fight would be moved off the highway and somewhere away from any civilians. Stabbing the street with Myrtenastor, Weiss managed to coat the street with a thick layer of ice that the mech was soon slipping and sliding across, and since it was pushing so hard to overcome the wind stream that Ventus was against it, Roman was unprepared for the moment when Ven's wind blast finally stopped and was redirected so that it was pushing him from behind instead, making his crash through the barrier and down to the ground below them.

Roman did not need much time to stand the mech upright again, but in the time that he was taking to get it back on its feet, he had quickly noticed that Ruby and Sora were already standing at the ready just a few feet away from where he had landed. By time he had gotten himself upright again, the rest of both Teams RWBY and SLVR had all arrived on the scene as well ready to fight with weapons locked and loaded. In his eyes, this was a perfect chance to finally rid himself of the little pests that had been giving him so much trouble ever since the night that he first ran into the red-hooded huntress, but he truly did not seem to have any clue the kind of challenge he was about to face by engaging both of these teams in battle at once. He would learn soon enough though.

"Freezerburn!" Ruby shouted out just before she and Blake backed off with the boys, giving Yang and Weiss room to execute the combo that they had been working on.

With another spin of her rapier, Weiss coated the ground with ice once again, but this time, it did not remain there. She had created this patch of ice so that Yang could shatter it with one, fiery impact from her gauntlets, creating a thick fog bank that would effectively blind them from Roman's view. Even with the mech's sensors, Roman had a hard time tracking his enemies' movements, as the fog made them too hard to see, and they were all moving too fast for him to react. This gave the Keybearers just the opening they needed to begin their own attack.

"Red Sunset," Sora could be heard shouting, and from out of the fog came Lea, armed with blazing chakrams that he easily used to deal some heavy damage to the mech, before he spun around and used his old weapons to boost a charging Roxas up into the air, getting the blonde into position for a downward, aerial double-slash.

Roxas managed to dash away thanks to a quick burst of his light powers, and soon let loose a few blasts of light and dark magic from his Keyblades to further disorient Roman, giving Lea the chance to rush in and land a few hits with his chakrams before changing them back into his Keyblade for one final blow. The added smokescreen from Lea and Roxas's attack gave Ruby even more cover for when she finally burst forward to scored a hit on the mech with her scythe, and Sora and Ven would probably have landed a hit of their own as well, had they not suddenly been intercepted by a spinning scythe that most definitely was not Crescent Rose.

"What the…?! Where did that come from," Blake asked as she continued to run around in an attempt to keep Roman from zeroing in on her.

"I'll give you three guesses, assuming you don't want eleven," Roxas replied as he indicated the attacker.

Only the Keybearers seemed to get his reference, but the girls did not need to in order to spot the Reapers that had just descended into the fight, with a small squad of Ninjas following soon after. "Oh yeah, I guess I should've mentioned that we found out about some of the other types of Nobodies Roman's got working for him a little sooner," Lea sheepishly remarked.

"You can give us the full list later. Let's just tear these sons of witches apart," Sora growled, startling the others with how angry and vicious he sounded. "Girls, you deal with Torchwick and his oversized scrap pile."

"Sure, okay," Ruby rapidly nodded without question, leaving everyone a little stupefied by how quickly she had agreed with that plan.

Shortly after that though, Yang had to agree with the idea as well, as a number of the Ninjas had suddenly dashed in and tried to claw her apart with their knives. They probably would have too, if it were not for Lea making a last minute save by shoving her aside and then parrying or deflecting all the attacks with his Keyblade. After one last deflection, Lea then swept his Keyblade around in a wide arc to unleash a burning wave of fire upon the Ninjas, destroying a good number of them in an instant, and he let out a small grin right afterwards. "Not gonna lie; even though they aren't Larxene herself, it still feels really good destroying them in her place," Lea confessed.

"Well you've got plenty more chances to enjoy it," Ventus informed him as he pointed out the remaining Ninjas.

Unfortunately for Lea, Sora had other ideas, as he then shouted out, "Blade Storm!"

"You heard the man," Lea shrugged in playful defeat before he leapt back, letting Roxas take his place so that he and Ventus could attack.

Shortly after, the two were tearing through several different Nobodies in a fluid display of high-speed swordsman ship, to the point where they were little more than a furious blur of swinging blades. It certainly made an impressive backdrop to Weiss and Blake's own team attack, Checkmate, which was very similar to the move that they had used against the Demon Tide back in Twilight Town, now with a noticeable amount of refinement and adjusted for this particular enemy. Sure, Weiss had been pushed further back from Blake due to taking an enemy hit when she could have defended herself instead, but the end results were still very much the same, as it allowed her to properly cast time dilation on Blake, making her fast enough to cut down all of the missiles that Torchwick fired at her afterwards. Though she did take a little bit of pride in knowing that she had nailed a few of the Dusks as well, but she still kept her attention on her own fight. It was a good thing she had; otherwise, she might have missed it when Ruby shouted out their next attack pattern.

"Ladybug," Ruby had called out, signaling Blake to move in for a combined attack with her. Most of their strikes were low and focused on the mech's legs, while also too fast for Roman to really track, and even when they leapt up to attack from above, they were still moving just as quickly, and that allowed them to finally sever one of the mech's arms in half.

They then leapt back again so that Yang could hop on and start beating down on the machine while sitting on its back, and while her sister was doing that, Ruby decided to show these Reapers who the real scythe wielder was around here; namely by cutting down as many of the high-ranking Nobodies as she could in an impressive display of skill that almost made it seem like she was showing off. After cutting through at least three of these foes though, she was prevented from taking out a fourth one when Sora beat her to the punch, slicing it in half with his Starlight Keyblade. He then spun around to aim his Keyblade at various different Nobodies, and then activated his Blades of the Round Shotlock, destroying several Ninjas and seriously damaging the remaining Reapers just enough for Ventus and Lea to finish them off.

Ruby was about to send Sora a comment of thanks, but ended up flinching back a little right when she opened her mouth due in no small part to the harsh glare that Sora threw at her when he turned to face her. "I told you to worry about Torchwick! We can handle the Nobodies without you getting in the way," Sora snapped.

"S-sorry! I just wanted to…I mean I thought…" Ruby stuttered.

"Well you thought wrong," Sora interrupted, and he raced back into battle once more.

Ruby was a little hurt by that remark, wondering if Sora had even realized what he was saying before he had opened his mouth, but she was brought back to the task at hand when she heard a loud crash, and turned to see Torchwick had just bashed her sister through several different columns. "Yang," Blake cried out in worry.

"Don't worry," Ruby reassured her Faunus teammate, trying to keep her voice sounding as calm and confident as she could. "She gets stronger with every hit she takes, and she can then use that energy to fight back with twice the power. That's what makes her special."

Yang ended up giving a perfect display of Ruby's words when Torchwick took another swing at her, and she ended up actually _stopping_ the mech's massive, metal fist with her bare hands. Continuing to hold it back, Yang's usually lilac colored eyes turned red just seconds before she shattered the entire arm in just one blow, leaving the mech completely disarmed. Yang was now ready to unleash her Semblance in full, but before she could, Torchwick kicked her back, sending her flying past Blake and Ruby. Little did he know that he had just set the girls up for another combo attack, and they were more than happy to use it.

"Bumblebee," Ruby shouted, and Blake immediately switched Gambol Shroud into its pistol mode and then tossed it over to Yang, keeping a tight hold on its ribbon as she did. When Yang caught the pistol, Blake pulled back on the weapon's ribbon, making it go taut, and allowing her to swing her partner around while Yang used her gauntlets to make her swing faster and ensure that her next hit would be even harder. Unfortunately, it was not fast enough, as Torchwick managed to avoid it by taking a few quick steps back. That did not deter Blake and Yang though, as they made another attempt soon after, only to have this one intercepted by some of the Ninja Nobodies.

"Hey, aren't you four supposed to be dealing with them," Weiss questioned the Keyblade wielders as she came to stand next to Ruby.

"Give us a break! In case you haven't noticed, these aren't your basic Dusk," Lea said in his defense.

"Less talking and more Sunburn," Sora snapped to the redhead, signaling Lea to get another strong fire blast ready.

Lea's fire was not the only bit of fire magic that was being used, as Sora had raised his Keyblade high in the air to summon out a massive, flaming sphere, which soon began raining down several fireballs on the remaining Ninjas. A few more fiery slashes from Lea's Keyblade later, and the redhead had soon built up enough juice to fire one powerful fireball into the one Sora had created, making his newly reawakened Firaga Burst even stronger by shooting a greater number of fireballs at a much faster speed. The poor Ninjas never stood a chance, and were soon all incinerated, but there were still one or two Reapers left to contend with, and Roxas and Ventus were starting to tire out a bit.

Seeing his teammates were having a tough time, Sora let out an annoyed growl before activating Second Form S with a loud yell, increasing his speed to the point where he was able to rush in and deliver several powerful, severe blows to the remaining Reapers. He barely even stopped to allow his enemies to take a breath before he unleashed his Ancient Light finisher, annihilating the last of the Reapers in a brilliant burst of transient light energy. As impressive as it was, the way that Sora had fought had definitely come off as very concerning for most of the group, save for Ruby, who had to fight to not look away in shame after Sora's attack had ended.

Thankfully, Ruby was able to focus just enough to come up with a way to slow down Torchwick, and fixated the mech with a determined glare as she called out her team's next attack to her partner. "Weiss, Ice Flower!"

Weiss merely nodded to Ruby as she began summoning forth a trio of glyphs, while Ruby lined up her scythe for another shot. The hooded huntress's next blasts were carried through and made all the more stronger by Weiss's glyphs, which made it that much easier to encase the mech in very solid, tough ice that would refuse to shatter under anything that Torchwick could do. Yang's next attack on the other hand was a much different story, because the next time Blake swung her around, Yang's hit connected, and not only shattered the ice, but also completely obliterated the mech. Torchwick just barely escaped the destruction of his machine unscathed, but there was no way he was going to be able to recover much of it now. Not that he seemed too concerned about the mech.

"I just got this thing cleaned," Roman muttered as he dusted off his suit and bowler hat, not really paying much attention to much else around him. That meant he missed Yang gearing up to fire another blast from her gauntlets, but it turned out he did not need to pay attention, as his partner from the rally dropped in to block the blast with an _umbrella_ of all things.

The two teams of heroes all narrowed their eyes a little at the small girl, who could only smile at them while a look of mischief seemed to dance in her mismatched colored eyes, one brown and one pink, and Torchwick shared in her smirk as he addressed the group directly. "Ladies, gentlemen, Ice Queen," Roman bade.

"Hey!" Weiss snapped, a little annoyed at hearing one of the bad guys of all people were now calling her that.

"Flame-Brain," Roman continued on.

"Hey!" Lea snapped right after, not liking the way it sounded coming from Torchwick.

"Always a pleasure," Roman finally finished before he looked to his partner. "Neo, if you would."

The two-toned girl did not say anything to her boss, but instead gave a dramatic bow to the heroes like she was mocking them. Everyone expected Yang to be the one to charge in and attack after that, but to their surprise someone ended up beating her to the punch, and it was the last person most of them had expected. "No you don't," Sora angrily shouted as he charged. One vicious slash later and Sora was left with the surprise of the two shattering like glass, indicating that they had somehow deployed an illusion against him and the others. Looking around, the group quickly spotted a bullhead taking off with the bad guys onboard, but none seemed more upset about Torchwick's latest escape than the Keyblade wielder who had been tricked into attacking an illusion. "Get back here! We're not done!"

"Whoa! Sora, chill out! They're gone," Lea attempted to reason, only for Sora to shove him off.

"Yeah, I can see that," Sora snapped.

"Then stop getting mad at us and everything else around you. There will be other days to catch the bad guys," Lea told him.

Sora just glared at the redhead before he finally huffed and began storming away, changing his Keyblade back into Kingdom Key before dismissing it completely. Everyone watched after him in concern before Yang finally commented on the matter that had thwarted their attempt at capturing Torchwick this time around. "So, I guess it's safe to say that the Nobodies aren't his only new henchmen," the blonde commented.

"Yeah, I guess she really made our plans…fall apart," Weiss attempted to joke, surprising some of the others at her attempt to lighten the mood.

It seemed to work for Ruby and Ventus, as they both at least snickered a little bit at Weiss's quip, while the others all shook their heads in dismay. Even Yang did not seem to approve as she said, "No, just no."

"What? But you do it all the time," Weiss protested, hardly believing that Yang of all people was telling her not to joke.

"There's a time and a place for jokes, Ice Princess," Lea scolded.

"Was this not it?"

"No, it just wasn't very good," Yang admitted.

"Well at least I'm trying," Weiss complained.

"You might want to try a little harder then," Lea advised.

"I thought it was a pretty good try," Ventus said in her defense, much to Weiss's relief.

Ruby then realized that there were a few people missing from their party, and asked, "Wait, where are Sun, Neptune, and Xion?"

"Oh crap! I almost forgot," Roxas gasped, and he quickly tapped his Gummiwatch in a frantic effort to call his girlfriend. Thankfully, he did not have to wait too long before she picked up. "Xion! Are you guys okay?"

_"We're fine. I just have to pry these two idiots away from the noodle stand, but we'll be there to help out pretty soon,"_ Xion reassured him, sounding more than a little aggravated that the two visiting students had decided to get a late night meal instead of going to help with the fight.

"Yeah…you're a little late on that, Xion. The fight's already over. We won by the way, even if the bad guy did away," Roxas informed her. The line then went quiet for an uncomfortable amount of time, and that got Roxas a little worried. "Uh Xion? Are you still there?"

_"…I'm gonna have to call you back,"_ was all Xion said before she finally hung up, immediately telling Roxas that he was right to start praying for Sun and Neptune.

Unfortunately, everyone else overheard the conversation, and while they were all annoyed to varying degrees, only one of them seemed truly pissed off at the moment. "Unbelievable," Sora shouted. "They insist on helping us, and yet when we actually need them the most, they decide to stop for a snack! We probably could've gotten them if they were here!"

"Hey come on, Sora, you don't know that. Besides, they were knocked off the highway a pretty fair distance away," Lea tried to say in the two's defense.

"And honestly, I don't think we need to worry about getting back at them. Xion's definitely going to make sure of that," Roxas promised, knowing that the two were about to find out what happened when his girlfriend was mad.

"Well goody-goody for her. I'm sure that makes everything all better," Sora said as scathingly as any human being could.

"Look, none of us are too happy about it, but it's not like we can change what happened. Like Lea said, we can always catch them next time," Ruby tried to reason, and for a moment, everyone thought that would be the end of Sora's tirade. What happened instead ended up being far from what they had expected.

"There shouldn't even have to BE a next time! Not when we could've ended it right here and now," Sora angrily snapped at Ruby, making her flinch back and look at him with a very scared expression.

As startling as it was to see Sora go off on her sister like that, Yang's first instinct was always to come to Ruby's aid no matter what, and she instantly went to work. "Hey, back off, Island boy! It's not like its Ruby's fault that they got away, so don't go yelling at her like it is!"

"Or what?! You'll throw one of your temper tantrums at me," Sora challenged, getting Yang even angrier with that remark, along with the rest of Team RWBY.

"Okay, just calm down," Weiss ordered, trying to maintain her cool but slowly losing it as Sora continued to rage on.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Sora snapped back.

"Then how about we just make you," Blake dared, fingering Gambol Shroud so that she could draw the blade at any second.

"You're more than welcome to try," Sora dared right back, his Keyblade returning to his hand on instinct, and much to the girls' shock, he then turned it on them! The only thing that was even more shocking was how some faint dark wisps seemed to start forming around Sora's body, giving them a very foreboding feeling about what could happen if he was pushed too far.

The other Keybearers did not need to guess; they all knew what that meant. Sora's anger was starting to reach its breaking point, and when that hit, out would come his Rage Form, the one form Sora had that they definitely wanted to avoid letting the girls see at any costs. They had to do something before he finally triggered the form in question, or worse, before Sora ended up destroying any friendship he had with Team RWBY, assuming he had not done so already, but right now, there was only one thing any of them could think of to stop this. Thankfully, Roxas had no qualms about using said tactic.

"STOP IT," Roxas screamed as he aimed Oathkeeper and fire off a blast of light magic right at Sora, blowing the unsuspecting Keybearer off his feet. The other two members of Team SLVR then moved to stand between Sora and the girls, both of them poised to block either the other team or their leader at any second while Roxas roughly hoisted Sora up to his feet and slapped him as hard as he could. "Get a hold of yourself, Sora! Before you do something worse than scaring all of your friends."

Hearing that made Sora's blood run cold, simultaneously making all of his anger drain right out of him as he turned a shameful look towards Team RWBY. For the most part, the only looks he received in return ranged from frightened to angry, but the one that hurt the most was the sad, hurt one that came from Ruby herself. In that moment, something broke inside of Sora, but what it was or why, Sora could not say for sure. Yes, he had a good idea, but at the same time, it was also a bad idea because it meant something that he was not sure he was willing to believe. Either way though, it hurt him a lot, right to the point where he slumped over quite a bit after Roxas finally let him go.

Seeing that his friend's anger had been quelled a bit for now, Ventus let out a tired sigh and reasoned, "Look, we've all had a very long night, and it's clearly left us all exhausted and very high-strung to say the least, so why don't we all just head back to the school, turn in for the night, and let cooler heads prevail, okay?"

Everyone silently agreed to that, but there was a very noticeable gap between Sora and the girls as they started the trip back to Beacon. For the other guys, it was hard to really say if it was Sora or the girls who was making more of an effort to build that distance, but whatever the case, the only thing they knew for sure was that something very serious had gone wrong and had made Sora's change in attitude worse than ever. Of course, they could have told you that just from the fact that he had gotten mad at Ruby, and as much as they did not want to question her on the matter, they all figured that she had some kind of answers behind this sudden decline.

"Ruby, what…what happened after you and Sora took off after Penny," Ventus eventually managed to ask.

Ruby did not say anything at first, her mind a jumbled up mess of emotions from that fight that they all just had and the kiss she had shared with Sora, ultimately leading her to only have one answer. "Sorry Ven, but…I-I don't want to talk about it."

Ruby did not say anything else after that, but none of the guys had the heart to try and push her into doing so. Her answer had already given them a decent enough picture to work with, right to the point where Lea already had something to say loaded for the moment when Yang marched up to demand some answers behind Sora's behavior. "Look, we all know that Sora was out of line, and we're going to get to the bottom of it," Lea promised.

"That's not good enough," Yang retorted.

"Well that's all I can say right now," Lea shrugged. When the blonde just continued glaring at him, Lea sighed and said, "Look, there's a lot of stuff that happened during the Second Keyblade War that each of us are still recovering from, but none of us have more baggage to get over from then than Sora. He's in a really, _really_ bad place right now, and getting upset with him is only going to make things worse."

"So we're supposed to just stand and there and take it if he decides to bite our heads off like we're the bad guys," Blake demanded.

"No, no! I never said that, I'm just saying…Urgh," Lea groaned. "Look, we've got a pretty good idea about what the whole thing stemmed from, but we can't tell you about it yet. Just let us handle this for now, okay?"

At any other time, Yang would have probably threatened someone with the most ferocious beating she could deliver _without_ Ember Celica, but when she took in how desperately Lea was begging her, all desire to do so seemed to leave her, so she simply sighed in defeat and nodded to show her agreement. Not that she did so without some form of warning. "Just know that I'm not letting that jerk within a mile of my sister if I can help it. Not unless he plans to apologize a few thousand times over or explain why he suddenly did all of that."

"…Can't say I blame you for that," Lea quietly muttered long after Yang was gone, leaving him alone with his two blonde teammates, as Sora had already departed, leaving them alone in Beacon's courtyard. "This is great. Just great! I knew that he was getting pretty bad again, but I never expected him to get this bad so quickly."

"Are you kidding me? He's not just bad; he's worse than ever, especially if it's to the point where he would actually get that upset with Ruby," Ventus corrected.

"Well if Ruby can't get him to calm down anymore, what are _we_ supposed to do," Roxas asked. "In case you hadn't noticed, we haven't had the best luck with getting him to see reason in a way that didn't involve just outright attacking him."

Unfortunately, Lea knew that there was only one answer to the problem at this point, and he was sure that his friends knew it too. They just did not want to say it, so he decided to be the bad guy and do so. "I'd hate to say it, fellas, but I think it's time we finally tell him the truth."

"No! We can't," Ventus tried to argue. "If we tell him about what Yen Sid discovered, it will definitely send him down a spiral that he won't come back from."

"Like we aren't already at that point," Lea questioned. "Ven, there's no way that this could possibly make him any worse than he already is, and quite frankly, it'd be better if we tell him now before he hears it from someone else."

"But…but we promised Aqua and each other that we wouldn't," Ventus weakly insisted.

"Yeah, back when we were able to see some of the old Sora in there, but I definitely didn't see any of him just a few hours ago, did you," Lea questioned. "Besides, we've uncovered more about whatever Torchwick is scheming with the White Fang and the Dusks than we did about our own mission, and considering how little that is, that's really saying something. At this point, I think we may have to make the call that none of us want to make."

All throughout the argument, Roxas had kept quiet, but when Ventus said nothing back after Lea's latest shot, he finally found a point to get in. "So our options are either keep quiet and do nothing, letting Sora get even worse, or tell him the truth and risk making him worse on the off chance he may actually take it well. Do I have that right?"

"Pretty much, but I think we all know that it isn't really a choice anymore, especially since doing otherwise runs the risk of losing some of our closest and best friends on this world," Lea insisted. "We have to tell Sora the truth about what Yen Sid learned regarding Kairi's being on Remnant."

Ventus no longer had any arguments to give, telling Lea that he had most likely won, despite how much he hated it, and Roxas, well, he could only sigh and mutter one sentence. "What a mess."

* * *

**_AN: [still running from Qrow until he slams a door closed behind him and barricades it, still sweating bullets even as he looks to you] Now, I know what you're all thinking after that very last bit at the end...Should we rip off lyokoMARVELanime's head? And the answer, just might surprise you, but before you get it, I'm just going to go hide over here. Pay no attention to the fact that it is a heavily fortified, mini fortress that has multiple weapons that are to be used for defensive purposes only._**

**_Sora: Dude! What gives?! I know that I'm not exactly in the best place in this story, but you didn't have to go and make me do something like that to Ruby?!_**

**_WBY: Hey! What about what you did to us?!_**

**_Lea: No offense girls, but I think more people are going to be hung up on Sora's little burst of anger at Ruby more than anything else._**

**_AN: I have to agree, but if I may be allowed a moment, I will explain my reasoning. Now, for the first part, we all know that in situations like this, things get worse before they get better, and there were very few options to go with when it came to finding just the right trigger for Sora to get worse, aside from him finding out the truth from someone other than his teammates. Secondly, I just really wanted to have Sora and Ruby share their first kiss. You have to admit, despite what happened afterwards, it did turn out to be a really sweet moment. Right?_**

**_RoseHeart: [blushing very heavily at the memory of that moment]_**

**_AN: I think that proves my point. Besides, a lot of people have been begging me to get Sora to go Rage Form be it on his friends or just in general at some point, but for right now, this is the most we're getting out of that. Don't worry, next chapter will definitely be the first step to making everything Sora-related right again. I promise, I promise, I promise! Eagle Scout's honor promise!_**

**_Roxas: Okay, dude, they get it._**

**_AN: Just need to make sure of that. Anyways, hope you guys liked how things were changed up with Yang's interrogation of Junior. I may or may not have been thinking of that one scene from Justice League Unlimited where Batman played good cop while I was writing it. If you've seen the series, or even just heard about it, you probably know what I'm talking about. Plus, the mention of those specific types of Nobodies will more than likely come into play later on in the story, namely before we've finally finished Volume 2 of the RWBY series._**

**_Hope you also liked that fight at the end, aside from Sora's little outburst that had come in the aftermath. Yeah, I needed to think a little bit when it came to the names for Team SLVR's team attacks, but some of them did kind of write themselves. I'll admit, I am a little sad that I couldn't work in a combo for Sora and Ven, but that was mainly because I couldn't find a place to fit it in. Don't worry, I'll try my best to showcase their team attack in the future if at all possible, or at the very least tell you guys what ends up being named._**

**_And yeah, that moment when Roxas called Xion to make sure she, Sun, and Neptune were okay was basically my way of getting back at those two for basically bailing out on the girls for the entirety of the main fight against Torchwick. That will be referenced in the future for the sake of comedy, as those two boys will more than likely be very scared of Xion for a long time to come. Hehehehehe._**

**_Hope you guys also liked how having Team SLVR and Xion along had also had an effect on each of the various groups for the duration of this mission as well. Be honest, how many of you were expecting Ven to suddenly give Weiss a tickle attack? Cute little moment for Windchill there, am I right? Among other things that seem to have made it advance a little more. And then there's Roxas and Xion's comments on the reason behind the White Fang wearing Grimm Masks. You know that they do make a good point, especially after their own experiences of being the "bad guys" in a bit of a way._**

_**One thing that I do want to mention about the scene when Penny revealed she was a robot, part of me actually considered having Jiminy Cricket suddenly appear and basically start doing his duty as an official conscience, even going so far as to go along with Penny so that he could do for her what he did for Pinocchio. And yeah, we all knew that Sora was going to go into a little bit of a speech about how Penny has a heart and such at some point during that conversation.**_

_**So, aside from that last bit at the end with angry Sora, which I hope you guys won't get too upset with me over, unlike some people [looks to security camera feeds to check on where Qrow is currently located], but don't worry, I will be doing my best to get the next chapter out so you can all see how Sora starts finally coming back to his senses and making amends with the girls (mainly Ruby), and yeah, it will be at a point that you're all thinking it will be. The proof is when in the pudding, as you see when you go Onto the Preview!...**_

**_Sora's on the verge of breaking beyond repair, but the guys all have hope that they can get him back to his old self, and in time for the dance too. It would certainly help lift the spirits of a certain Rose if they could, but their first attempt ends up having a very drastically opposite effect on him. To make matters worse, Team RWBY are facing their own problems within their ranks, and not just with Blake looking like she's going to collapse at any second. Ruby can't get that moment between her and Sora out of her head, and Sora's reaction to the whole thing, combined with his recent attitude isn't helping anything. Add in a bit of drama on Team JNPR's front, and you've got quite the debacle to clean up. Here's hoping that Roxas and Yang can help their respective teammates, while simultaneously helping Ruby and Sora start to patch things up, even a little bit. Though it seems pretty clear that a few hard truths are going to come to light at last for everyone before anything is said and done. Find out just how everyone comes to cope, next time._**

**_Okay, now I've gotta get back to running for my life from Qrow, because he's definitely not going to be happy until I've patched things up between Sora and Ruby, or until I post my little birthday present for Ruby in RWBY Meetings, so bye! [runs from the room]_**

**_[door and the wall around it finally get broken in, allowing an irrate Qrow to enter]_**

**_Qrow: GET BACK HERE, BASTARD! You're gonna pay for making my niece cry!_**

**_AN: I didn't make her cry! There were no sad tears despite the sad moment! [suddenly ducks to avoid getting blasted by the gun in Qrow's sword] AH! SOMEBODY HELP ME!_**

**_Ruby: This is getting ridiculous. At this rate, my whole family is going to want his head over something at one point or another. Anyways..._**

**_Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy._**


	12. Dance, Dance, Resolutions

_**AN: [sitting nervously in his seat as his eyes flicker between the audience and whoever's next to him] You are going to keep your promise to let me live at least until the end of this chapter, right?**_

_**Qrow: [glaring at AN while keeping his hand on his sword's handle] That's the most I can promise right now. Let's see how things play out, and we'll talk more about whether or not you live to write another day.**_

_**AN: [laughs nervously] R-right. Well, as you guys can see, I may very well be on borrowed time, and before anyone asks why I'm not just doing something crazy/silly to keep Qrow from hurting me, the answer is actually very simple...He took my remote away from me.**_

_**Qrow: [smirks as he waves the remote in his hand] That I did. Still can't figure out which button on this thing gets me more drinks though.**_

_**AN: None of them. Not a single button on that remote can give you any more beer, whisky, or alcohol. We do not have a bar in this studio, and I certainly don't allow drinking!**_

_**Qrow: [glares at AN again while moving to raise his sword] You sure you don't want to reconsider that?**_

_**AN: [raises hands in defense] Hey, you were the one asking. Look, today's chapter is especially long. Like, new personal record for longest chapter I've ever written long, so can I just answer some reviews real quick and let everyone get to it?**_

_**Qrow: [rolls his eyes while resting his sword] Fine.**_

_**AN: Ahem, first off, in a general response, I'm honestly surprised how many people are making Star Wars comparisons to Sora's little outburst last chapter, but I suppose you guys are pretty justified in that.**_

_**Most of you also asked a lot of questions about how things are going to be fixed, so I'll just simply say that all will be revealed today, no need to wait any longer. Sorry I can't address those questions directly, but again, long chapter, trying to get through this quick.**_

_**Now, "Anonymaton", for the last time, no mallets! Last thing we need to give Nora any ideas! She's already grinning creepily from just the thought of having a mallet! [turns to see Nora with said creepy grin right now and shivers] Rafiki's staff on the other hand, I would definitely be on board with.**_

_**"Monkey D. Conan", thanks for that first bit of advice. I'll try my best to implement it later on in the future, maybe even go back and see if I can use it to improve the previous chapters in some way too.**_

_**"SuperMarioFreak", here's the KH Crew (at least the ones that have made the most appearances so far) to answer your question on which RWBY Semblance that they like best.**_

_**Lea: Well, if we're going to go by all the Semblances that have been seen over the course of the entire RWBY series and not just the stuff we've seen so far in this story, I've gotta say, I really like Hazel's Semblance. I mean, come on! Big buff dude like that, and he literally feels no pain. That's hardcore.**_

_**Terra: Same here.**_

_**Roxas: I kinda like Raven's Semblance. I mean, come on! Who wouldn't want to be able to make a portal to people that you've become close with?**_

_**Sora: That's a good point, hence the reason why it's one of my favorites too, aside from Ruby's. Oh, and Weiss's. Her glyphs can do just about anything.**_

_**Aqua: I have to agree with Sora on that second one. Weiss's glyphs are definitely great.**_

_**Xion: If I had to choose at least one, I'd say it'd be either Blake or Jaune's Semblance. Blake's makes for a great stealth assist and battle assist, while Jaune's makes him the perfect support teammate and healer, kinda like what I tend to be a lot of the time.**_

_**Namine: I'd have to go with Emerald's Semblance to be honest. It kind of reminds me of some of the things I can do with my powers, when you think about it.**_

_**Riku: Hmm...I'd have to say Qrow's Semblance is one of my favorites. Sure, he can't totally control it, but it is great for making his enemies have a tougher time in a fight, plus, Qrow's just awesome. Aside from that, I also kinda like Yang's Semblance. Reminds me a little of how I would activate my Dark Form while I was in Castle Oblivion, in a way.**_

_**Moving on now, "cbustroyer", at this time, Oscar does seem like the most likely person I will be shipping Kairi with, and I get your reasons for being against that and RoseGarden, but really, what reason would Oscar have for joining up with the rest of the gang (aside from helping Kairi find them), than to have Ozpin's soul join with his? And honestly, I feel like it would be creepier/weirder if Ozpin's soul joined with Qrow's, and more dangerous, considering that the two of them have both more than likely accumulated quite the large number of enemies, both shared and separate. Also, really? A shotgun? Really? [snaps fingers and camera pans up to show Optimus Prime, Superman, Spider-Man, Captain America, Gundam Exia, Lightning Farron, Cloud Strife, and a large multitude of weaponry and defensive systems around both the room and the building itself] This is just a sample of what I've got for my security. Do you **_**really_ think I'm gonna be worried about a little shotgun?_**

**_Qrow: How'd you even get all those guys to show up like that when I've got your remote?_**

**_AN: I have my ways. [winking to a stagehand that's hiding backstage who nods in return before calling to return camera to previous focus point] "Hamm1999", sorry, can't say that I do._**

**_And finally, I would answer the question asked by "Disney24601", but we are running out of time on this starting note, and like I said, I'd like to get the main story of this chapter started. Don't worry, I'll be sure to answer your question first thing next chapter. Promise. Now, with that said, everyone, let us dance!_**

**_[everyone starts break dancing to some awesome music]_**

**_I meant as in "start the story", wise guys. Not literally start dancing._**

**_Everyone other than AN: Oh. Sorry._**

**_AN: Anyways..._**

**_I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story._**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Dance, Dance, Resolutions**

The days that followed the rather upsetting end to Teams RWBY and SLVR's investigation were pretty dismal, to put it mildly. None of the girls were willing to be near Sora unless they had no other option, and unfortunately, that had quite the negative impact on the rest of the guys as well for a little while. Yang had actually skipped on her usual weekend outing with Lea the Saturday after that Friday night, and did so again for a few weeks afterwards, and while she had done so very politely, Weiss had also turned down all of Ven's offers to study and/or spar together. The only one who was not actively avoiding the guys was Blake, but anyone with a pulse could tell that it was only because she was so focused on the investigation into their enemies. Roxas was just glad that she was willing to let him help out at all, even if the conversations they held during that time were either strictly business or kept incredibly short. Thankfully, the girls were willing to let Roxas, Ventus, and Lea back into their social circle after a short time, but that did not change anything in regards to how they felt towards Sora.

Surprisingly, Sora was not really making very many efforts to try and resolve things with any of them. In fact, he had thrown himself even more into his practice and training than ever, and when he was not doing either of those things, he was spending every waking moment and more researching anything he could find that would help him find Kairi. Any time someone did try to at least talk with him, he would quickly brush them off and be on his way, and it was always random whether he did it politely or not. The one person he made a point to truly avoid though was Ruby. Every time he so much as caught a glimpse of the girl being in the area, he did everything he could to be somewhere else before she could catch sight of him, and when he could not avoid her, he tried his best to keep their interaction as brief as possible. It was clear that he was not doing so because he was still mad at her, as everyone had caught him staring at her with a pained expression for several minutes at a time, only looking away when it seemed like she was going to catch him staring. None of the guys had any clue as to why he was treating Ruby this way though, and they did not ever really get the chance to question him on it, because Sora would always disappear at the first chance he had.

Ruby was not really doing much better than Sora, as her teammates would often catch her staring at him with a forlorn expression that made them think she was likely to cry at any second. It was truly mind boggling that she could still be so fixated or even the slightest bit interested with Sora, despite the fact he had been so mean to her, but none of the other members on Team RWBY were willing to call her out on it for each of their own various reasons. Still, the way she always stared at him before looking away seeming like she was going to cry for some reason was certainly disconcerting, and the girls knew they would need to call attention to it sooner rather than later. The only problem with that was that they were afraid she would go running to Sora once she was better and end up getting hurt by him again, and that was the last thing any of them wanted, least of all Yang, since she still seemed like she was ready to beat Sora every second she saw him near her sister without an apology.

This whole plight with the leaders of Teams SLVR and RWBY was getting to the point of being so great that even Team JNPR was concerned, but both groups had assured Jaune and his teammates that they could handle things without any extra assistance. Most of said team were not entirely willing to believe that, but they did leave it be after Lea and Yang had insisted that they could handle things. As time went on though, some would be forgiven for doubting the pair's words, especially since it did not seem like either group was really able to enjoy how Pyrrha was currently delivering a very impressive and thorough beat down to Team CRDL, single-handedly.

"Sooo…Anyone else think she's getting some kind of personal enjoyment out of this? You know, because of the stuff that Cardin did last semester," Lea attempted to joke as he watched Pyrrha practically dance around the arena, easily dodging, deflecting, and countering the attacks of Cardin and his team. It may have been a good attempt, but at this point in time, with the current atmosphere, it fell really flat. He was just glad that he got at least a small smile out of Yang and a bit of a laugh from Nora, but he would have enjoyed it a little more if Sora was not currently so absorbed in something on his Scroll while nodding off every now and then. Probably even more so if Ruby had at least perked up and given a tiny smile as well.

Even if someone was going to comment, the chance came and went, as Pyrrha had just taken down Cardin with a finishing move that would have been worthy of several awards, prompting Goodwitch to finally step forward and declare, "And that's the match. Pyrrha Nikos is the victor."

"Ugh…You got lucky," Cardin dizzily grumbled, only to fall over seconds later, much to everyone's amusement. Even Goodwitch had cracked a small smile though she was able to hide it very easily behind the one she was giving Pyrrha as she praised the girl for her performance.

"A very impressive performance, Miss Nikos. I'm sure that if you and your team were to enter, you would have no trouble qualifying for the tournament based on your skills alone," Goodwitch congratulated.

"Thank you, Professor," Pyrrha happily grinned in return. True, she had been receiving praise for her talents and skills for as long as she could remember, but that did not make it any less pleasing to hear.

Goodwitch gave one last praising look to the girl who was easily one of her star pupils before she turned her attention to the rest of the class. "Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers?"

On a normal day, she probably would have ended up being a little disgruntled at the fact that some of the only ones to answer that question would more than likely be a member of Team SLVR, specifically their leader, but much like the last few classes, Goodwitch was surprised to see that Sora was just remaining completely still, not showing any signs of willingness to step into the ring. Glynda would have called him out on this, but upon looking at the boy, she could see there was something off about him that left her a little concerned. It was not incredibly obvious to most, and she could only assume that his teammates had some idea of it as well, given the way they were all huddled around him, but any time one of her students seemed to be even the slightest bit unwell, Glynda always at least made a note to try and speak with them about it at the first chance she had. This time was no different, but for now, since it did not seem like anyone was going to volunteer, she had to worry about picking someone for the next match, and she quickly spotted another student that had not been very active in this class as of late.

"Miss Belladonna," Goodwitch called out, pulling the girl out from the book she had just been absorbed in with a start. "You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you…"

"I'll do it," someone interrupted, making Goodwitch turn to face the student who had dared to interrupt her.

She did not recognize him at first, and that alone told her it was one of the exchange students, so she managed to rein in any anger she would have held for the interruption a bit more easily. After taking another minute to study the student in question, Goodwitch finally managed to put a name to the face. "Mercury isn't it," Goodwitch asked, making sure that she remembered correctly. When the boy silently confirmed her guess, Goodwitch then proceeded to browse through the attendance sheet on her Scroll as she said, "Very well. Let's see about finding you an opponent."

"Actually, I already had someone in mind, if that's okay," Mercury requested. He took Goodwitch's patient silence as the good-ahead for his request, and he immediately turned to point out the person he had in mind. "I wanna fight…him."

Everyone's heads had instantly turned to where Mercury had pointed, and only a select few were surprised that it was in the direction of Team SLVR. It was a little hard to tell for certain as to which one he was pointing at, but everyone had a pretty good idea, regardless of that. "Seriously? I get that he's tough, but why is it that everyone always wants to try and have at least one match with Sora," Roxas questioned, exasperated by the very fact he just mentioned.

"No, not him. We've all seen what your team's leader can do, or at the very least heard one of the many stories about it," Mercury corrected, much to everyone's surprise. It ended up fading very quickly once they had let his reasons roll around in their minds, and that made it easier to understand when Mercury specified which Keyblade wielder he was talking about. "I'm more interested in fighting the other blonde on your team: Ventus."

Hearing that he was the one who Mercury was calling out made Ventus start to grin excitedly. It was not all that often that many people challenged him to a match, and to be quite honest, it felt like it had been quite some time since he had taken part in a friendly spar with anyone besides his teammates or Weiss. That was not to say that Ventus had not been entering the ring a few times, but this was probably the first time that someone had asked him to have a match with them. With that in mind, no one was surprised when he happily jumped up and declared, "Okay, you're on!"

"Well, I suppose I don't need to ask if you're alright with this, Mister Kunsanagi, so I'll let you both prepare for the match while Miss Nikos finds her seat," Goodwitch instructed.

Having everything said and done, Ventus and Mercury both went to retrieve their combat gear, which really meant that Mercury retrieved his combat gear and weapons while Ventus just moved into the ring, summoning out Wayward Wind as he went. Mercury did not seem too surprised by how Ven had gotten ready and into the ring first, like most of the other exchange students were when they asked any member of Team SLVR for a match, but Ventus was a little curious about just what Mercury's weapon could be since it did not seem like the guy had brought it with him. He was going to ask, but the match had started right when he had opened his mouth, and Mercury was already on the charge.

Ventus did not even need to think too much before bringing his Keyblade around to block Mercury's first, high kick, but he was startled just enough to be pushed back a bit farther than he normally would have been when the other boy's boots suddenly fired off a blast. Several more gun blasts followed other kicks that Mercury sent towards him, and while it was still surprising, it was not to the point where Ventus was completely unprepared for them after that first blast. For the most part, Ventus kept on the defensive quite a bit, getting a feel for how Mercury fought before he finally made his move, though at times, he would sometimes use his control over wind magic to try and deflect a good number of Mercury's attacks. This did not go unnoticed by the other boy, but it did not seem to bother Mercury too much either. He just simply smirked a little bit more every time he took notice of Ven's wind magic being activated, indicating that he was satisfied just because he had made Ventus use his powers in such a way. Too bad for him, Ven was planning on wiping that smirk off his face in just a few seconds.

Having reasoned out that Mercury's fighting style was very similar to Yang's, minus the angry outbursts that some of Yang's fights included, Ventus finally went on the attack, spinning his Keyblade around in one hand as he charged. He knew that there was a good chance he could not win in a straight up, frontal attack, but thankfully, Ventus knew he would not need to by going with his usual fighting style of prioritizing speed over power. He would duck and dodge around any blows that Mercury attempted to throw him off, and then easily spin around with a fast counterattack that was sure to disorient the older boy. At one point, Mercury had even used his gun boots to boost himself up into the air, thinking that would keep him out of Ven's reach, but that proved useless when Ventus shot a quick blast of wind magic out from his Keyblade to push himself just as high into the air and commence in a ferocious aerial assault.

When Mercury hit the floor again, Ventus was a little surprised to see him leap back onto his feet again, still looking ready to go and just as excited as before. Sure, he knew that his Aura had more than likely protected Mercury from the worst of his attacks, but it was the fact that he wanted to keep going and seemed ready to retaliate more fiercely that made Ven a little surprised. He figured that this was just a little show of how a more experienced huntsman-in-training could stand in a fight, and frankly, Ventus was growing a bit more excited as well. If this kept up, he figured he was going to have to actually use one of his Command Styles, an ability he had not really had a chance to exercise outside of matches he had with his teammates or battles against the Heartless and Nobodies.

Ventus was not the only one left impressed by how well Mercury was holding up, as his friends were all just as impressed, at least in the case of the ones who were really paying attention. "Your friend's doing pretty good," Ruby commented to Emerald, her voice a bit more chipper than it usually was lately whenever she was around Sora.

"No kidding. I don't think I've seen that many people hold their own against Ven this long while he's holding back," Lea added on.

"This is him holding back," Emerald questioned in surprise.

"Oh yeah," Roxas proudly confirmed with a knowing smile.

Their voices must have carried a bit more than they had thought, as Mercury had suddenly been taken off guard for some reason, giving Ventus another opening to attack. This time though, he led off with a blast of fire and ice magic so that he could create a quick smokescreen to cover his approach, and though he knew Ventus was likely to come from the same direction, Mercury still seemed a little surprised by the tactic. That was just what Ven was counting on, as he proved when he suddenly burst out of the smoke, his leap covering even more distance thanks to wind magic and slashed at Mercury as hard as he could. Mercury managed to duck under the attack, and then proceeded to try and dodge the ones that followed, deflecting as many as he could with his gun boots, until Ven ultimately managed to push him back with a well-placed gust of wind.

Ventus then charged, ready to end the fight right then and there, when Mercury just smiled, raised his hands up, and suddenly said, "I forfeit."

"Wait, what," Ventus gasped out, stumbling a little as he did his best to make sure that his attack would not connect. It probably would not have mattered either way if it did or not, but the surrender had just come so suddenly that Ven had been caught completely off guard. Once he had found his footing again, he turned to Mercury and asked, "You're…You're just giving up? Just like that?"

"Pretty much," Mercury shrugged.

"But why?"

"Don't really see much point. You've clearly got a lot more experience and power than I thought. Sure, I've heard the stories about your team, but I will admit that I took most of them with a grain of salt. Clearly they were not as exaggerated as I thought."

There was something about the way Mercury said that and his flippant tone that did not sit well with Ventus, but he did not comment on the matter. If anything, he was more disappointed that the fight had ended right when he was about to get really serious. More than that, he had honestly thought that Mercury had been holding back quite a bit for most of the fight for some reason, so it was hard to believe that he would just give up out of nowhere unless a lot more of his Aura had been depleted than he originally thought. Looking at the score though, Ven could see that was not really the case, as Mercury's Aura had only fallen to the point of being halfway out, not even close to being in the red, so that just made this whole thing even stranger. Either way, he was not going to protest Goodwitch's decision to accept Mercury's surrender and declare the match in his favor.

"That's all for today everyone, and remember, the dance may be this weekend, but you all still have your first missions on Monday, and I will not accept any excuses short of being sick to the point where the school's doctor orders you to bed rest," Goodwitch then announced as the bell rang. As the students began to file out though, she once again caught sight of Team SLVR's leader, looking a bit more sluggish than everyone else, and called out, "Mister Hikari, could I have a word with you for a moment?"

If it were not for his recent attitude shift, Lea probably would have made some teasing remark about Sora being in trouble. Instead, he, Roxas, and Ventus just cast worried looks in Sora's direction as he made his way down to the professor, ignoring their stares and the slightly less friendly ones that came from three-fourths of Team RWBY. Sora would like to say that he was able to ignore all of Team RWBY's looks, but that was pretty much impossible since he could feel Ruby's saddened and worried gaze stabbing into his back like several knives. Either way, he was still able to school his features for the moment when he stood before Goodwitch, but somehow, it seemed like his neutral expression just made her even more upset with him.

"Is there something wrong, Professor," Sora evenly asked.

"I was actually going to ask you that, Mister Hikari," Goodwitch confessed, her worry now making a full display in her features, and her softened voice easier to hear with the other students now gone from the room. "You've been even quieter than Miss Belladonna these last few sessions of Combat Class, and it has come to my attention that your reserved nature has also been apparent in other classes too. Not to mention that you also look rather unwell physically speaking as well."

"I'm fine," Sora said in a short clipped tone. If he had used it with his friends and/or fellow students, they probably would have backed off, but it was not going to work in this case.

"Are you sure about that," Goodwitch asked. "Have you been skipping any meals recently? Getting enough sleep? Maybe even taken some time to just sit down and relax for a little while?"

"Like I said, I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about," Sora repeated, now sounding a little more annoyed.

Goodwitch was not buying it though, because even if Sora did not wear his heart on his sleeve most of the time, she could see several signs that suggested otherwise, especially now that he was standing in front of her. His eyes not only seemed a little bloodshot, like he had been crying a lot lately, but they also had noticeable bags underneath them. In addition to that, she could also see some signs on his arms of some typical training injuries which were not properly healed, something that should not be a problem given that she knew the boy possessed very impressive healing magic that could rival the healing properties of Aura. To round it all out, his skin also seemed to lack its usual, natural tan, and since she knew Sora did most of his personal training outdoors, she knew that it was not due to getting less sun, so she had to assume that it was from something else. None of the other reasons for it were ones that Goodwitch liked, and she had to find some way to get Sora to understand her reasons for being concerned.

"Mister…" Glynda began, only to stop short and start again, this time with a more soothing tone. "Sora, contrary to what I'm sure is a very popular belief amongst the student body; I do care a great deal about the wellbeing of my students, as do all of the other teachers at Beacon, so believe me when I say that I'm only asking because I am deeply concerned about you right now. Not just because your grades have been starting to take a bit of a decline, but also because you do look very unwell. If there is anything bothering you that I or any of the other teachers can help with, you only need to ask."

Sora was quiet for a few moments, apparently gauging just how genuine his teacher was being right now. Not that it was hard to do so, as it was rare for Goodwitch to show this softer side of hers to any of the students, at least outside of times when they were doing an impressive job in their classes. For a moment, Glynda began to think that she was getting through to the boy, but she ended up very disappointed when he finally replied. "I appreciate your concern Professor, but like I said I am _fine_."

Seeing that she was not going to get through to him so easily right now, Goodwitch let a quiet sigh escape from her lips and said, "Very well then, but at the very least, I would like for you to report to the school infirmary and perhaps ask for something that might help you sleep, assuming that you are having trouble with that. You don't have to, but it would at least put me and many others a little more at ease."

"…I'll…I'll think about it if I have the time. I've got some important stuff I need to take care of though," Sora conceded, seeing that he was not going to win this battle with anything less than a half promise like that.

Goodwitch was willing to accept that, even if it was not a total guarantee, and finally allowed Sora to depart from the classroom. The minute he was out the door, he saw Sun looking a little dejected while Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were turning worried looks between him and a direction that he could only assume that Blake had gone off in, and realized that he was going to have to take a more roundabout way to get to the library if he wanted to avoid the girls. His attempts to get away ended in failure before they could begin, as Ruby chose that moment to look over and quietly gasped in surprise at the sight of him. The two held each other's gaze for a few minutes afterwards, seeing a myriad of emotions in the other person's eyes, until Sora finally managed to tear his gaze away from Ruby and beat a hasty retreat.

He did not stick around long enough to see if Yang or Weiss had noticed him as well, or how Ruby must have looked after he had turned away from her, but right now, he was more focused on something else. That feeling he had gotten from seeing Ruby so upset the other night had come back again, and with it came the memory of when they…well, that moment after they had last parted ways with Penny. Every time he thought of it, he felt his heart start speeding up while an odd feeling of peace seemed to take hold of him. There were also many other feelings, not unlike the ones he would often feel around Kairi, and it was actually that very reason why he was doing his best to avoid Ruby right now. He still retained strong feelings for Kairi and still wanted to find her so badly, but at the same time, this new feeling that was similar yet so different would always rear its face whenever he was around Ruby, and it had become harder than ever to ignore or pretend like it was not even there after that time in the alley. Do not get Sora wrong, he did enjoy being around Ruby, and the feelings she stirred up within him were incredible. It was like Ruby made him feel as though something he had been missing was finally restored, but at the same time, it made him feel like he was betraying Kairi in the most terrible of ways and that was the last thing he wanted. It was all just so confusing for poor Sora.

In his hasty retreat and muddled state, he had not really been paying much attention to where he was going, until he finally ran headlong into his fellow Keyblade wielders, and before he could try saying any apologies for not noticing them, Lea said, "Sora, we need to have a team meeting. Right now."

If the seriousness in Lea's voice was not clue enough, then the very serious and concerned looks on all of his friends' faces definitely told Sora that this was not up for debate, and he had a feeling that it was probably not going to be anything like his conversation with Goodwitch just a little while earlier. What really bothered him though was how that knowledge did not make Sora feel much better, but instead, it just gave him a very deep sense of foreboding.

* * *

"You what?!" was the question that came in a very shrill voice from Blake to her teammates a few hours later.

"We want you to go to the dance," Yang calmly repeated. "You look like you could use a night to just unwind and have fun."

"Don't be ridiculous," Blake scoffed.

"We're not; we're just worried about you. This investigation is really starting to have a bad effect on you," Yang calmly insisted.

Weiss had no problem listing off the concerns she and the rest of the team had for their resident cat Faunus, thinking that might help prove their point. "You can't sleep, you hardly eat, and to be honest, your grades have been suffering."

"You think I care about grades?! People's lives are at stake," Blake reminded them.

"We know, and we're all still trying to figure out what Torchwick is up to," Yang reassured her. She then scowled a little bit as she muttered, "You know, when we're not having to worry about certain 'friends' biting our heads off and turning their weapons on us."

"Honestly, it's a miracle you haven't gotten to the point where you're as bad as him, but you do look like you're getting close to it," Weiss commented to Blake, knowing what Yang was talking about. She was still upset about the way Sora had acted that night, but after taking the night to rest up and recover, she could not help but think that there was something else going on with him whenever she thought back to that moment. Ventus had mentioned once or twice that Sora had been through some hard times, so Weiss was sure that it would not have been too much of a stretch to say that something had made the wielder of Kingdom Key come close to a breaking point that night. She was just not sure what.

Ruby had gone stiff the moment her friends started talking about Sora, and quickly made an effort to get back on topic before anyone said or did anything that might set Yang off on him, or lead to her spilling the beans on what happened between them. "Either way, at least we're a lot closer than we were before, and it's all thanks to you, Sun, Roxas, and Xion, Blake," Ruby reminded everyone. "Now we know that they're operating somewhere outside of South East Vale, and Ven and Weiss discovered that Vale was a primary target for Dust robberies over the last few months."

"Not to mention that the Schnee Dust Company records also singled Vale out as the location where a lot of their military tech had gone missing," Weiss added on.

"That's all good, but there are still unanswered questions," Blake pointed out.

"And you won't be able to find answers for any of them if you can't even keep your eyes open. Even the best huntsmen need to take some time to rest and recuperate," Ruby countered. That was a lesson that her father and uncle had spent quite a bit of time trying to teach her when she started learning under them. Not that Yang did not have trouble learning it too, but Ruby was sure that she was the one who had a tougher time doing so.

"We're just asking for you to take it easy for one day," Yang insisted.

"It'll be fun, especially since Yang and I are planning the whole thing," Weiss proudly revealed.

"Excuse me," Blake questioned, but none of her friends noticed the dangerous edge that had crept into her voice.

"Team CFVY still hasn't gotten back from their mission, so we were asked to pick up where they left off. That means we can make sure that we all have the perfect night," Yang explained. "And once it's all over, we'll return to our investigation, rested and ready. It'll be great!"

"So, what do you think," Ruby pried, hoping that she would get a positive answer. She did not.

"I think this is a colossal waste of time," Blake practically hissed, and she then stood up and marched out of the room without another word.

"…Well, that went great," Yang sadly sighed.

"She can't keep going like this," Weiss agreed, and she was about to offer up some ideas on what they could do when they all heard a knock at the door. Weiss was instantly on her feet, mainly because she did not want Ruby to answer on the off-chance that Sora was the one at the door. Despite her theories, she was still cautious about letting the boy near her partner right now unless it was to apologize for his behavior. When she opened the door though, she ended up wishing that it was Sora who was there instead of the person it actually was.

"Weiss~," Jaune sang as he strummed the guitar in his arms, only to be cut off when Weiss slammed the door in his face. "Oh come on. Open the door," Jaune moaned miserably as he knocked again. "I promise not to sing again." Against her better judgment, Weiss figured she might as well see what he wanted, and opened the door, only to have her ears assaulted with a few more strums of Jaune's guitar. "I lied~!"

_'No kidding,'_ all three girls thought, but while Weiss was mentally groaning the thought, Ruby and Yang were both thinking it in a more amused sense.

"Weiss Schnee~, will accompany me~, to the dance on…" Jaune continued to sing, until someone finally cut him off.

"Oh god, that awful noise! Somebody please, put whatever it is that's dying out of its misery already," Lea shouted as he came from down the hall, his hands firmly clamped over his ears in an effort to block out Jaune's musical request.

"Was my singing really that bad," Jaune hesitantly asked, a frown already on his face.

Everyone in the area shared uncertain glances with each other before some of them finally gave their hesitant replies. "Ehhhh…" Yang started to say.

"Well…" was all Ruby managed to get out.

"That was you singing," Lea asked.

Jaune slumped over in defeat after that last one, and then said, "You know what, never mind. I think I already know where this is going. I'll just…I'll just leave now."

Seeing how pitiful he looked, and remembering how she had resolved to be a better person in the future, Weiss let out a tired sigh and said, "Wait." That earned her surprised looks from Ruby, Yang, and Lea, along with a hopeful one from Jaune, until she gave him his answer. "As…charming…as the attempt was, I still would have said no. I actually already have a date in mind for the dance."

"Oh. Yeah, I should've figured," Jaune conceded. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised you'd be planning to go with Ven."

"What?! V-Ven?! Where…Why do you think…" Weiss stuttered, her blush adding some color to her otherwise pale features.

"It's kind of obvious that you want to ask either him or Neptune, Ice Princess," Lea stated. He ignored the usual glare that followed his regular use of his nickname for Weiss, and instead focused on the blonde with the guitar. "More importantly though, it's not like you don't have another option available to you, Jaune. I mean, I'm pretty sure she's eagerly waiting for you to ask her."

"Uh…who is," Jaune asked.

"Seriously dude, you can NOT be this oblivious or dumb, can you," Lea questioned, only to be disappointed when Jaune shrugged. "Oh my god, you are serious." He then looked into Team RWBY's room and asked, "Hey Yang, do you think if we got you to hit him hard enough he might get it?"

"Wait, what," Jaune panicked. "No! No, no, no! Please don't let her hit me!"

"Lea, stop teasing and just tell him," Ruby ordered.

"Fine. Ruin all of my fun," Lea grumbled before he focused his full attention on Jaune. "Dude, I'm talking about how a certain girl we all know obviously likes you. A lot! Namely a girl who's on your team." Jaune just stared at him with a blank look on his face. "And is a really great fighter." Still the same blank look. "A certain redhead in particular."

"I'm pretty sure Nora's going with Ren," Jaune informed Lea, only realizing that was the wrong response after he opened his mouth when Lea turned and began banging his head against the wall.

"What. Is. Wrong. With. This. Idiot," Lea grunted with every hit.

"He's talking about Pyrrha," Weiss said as bluntly as possible.

"DUH!" Lea snapped before turning to start banging his head on the wall again.

Thankfully, Yang came in and stopped him before he could injure himself or damage the wall. "Okay Lea, it's out there now. No need to give yourself a concussion," she assured the redhead.

"Wha…Pyrrha? Come on. That's ridiculous. There's no way she likes me in that way," Jaune laughed like he had just heard a silly joke. He only stopped when he noticed that no one else was laughing, and that they were all giving him looks that questioned his intelligence. "Right?" Still the looks persisted. "I mean…Yeah, she's cool, but…we're friends. Best friends! I really don't think…B-besides, she's Pyrrha! I'm sure she's got hundreds of guys asking her to the dance. Why would she want to go with me?"

"Because she likes you, stupid! What part of that don't you get," Lea ranted, looking like he was going to explode at any second.

"It's pretty obvious that she's been into you since you first met," Ruby shrugged, prompting Jaune to stare at Ruby in surprise. If Ruby Rose, someone who was just as if not more socially awkward than him was saying that something was obvious, then Jaune was now hard pressed to believe it, even if it was hard to believe.

"But I…Well, she's…" Jaune stuttered. "I'm so confused now."

"Hey, no one's saying you have to ask her," Yang started.

"Even if you should," Weiss interjected.

"And by that she means you definitely should," Lea added.

"BUT," Yang interjected before glaring at the fire and ice duo a little. "You should at least think about it. Pyrrha cares about you a lot, Jaune. I mean, I haven't seen her do any of the things for others that she's done for you. Not to mention that she's just different when you two are together. It's like she's able to just open up and be herself around you, and not be the invincible girl everyone knows her as. Just think about it?"

Jaune seemed to take all of that in before he ultimately just nodded and slowly wandered off, most likely to return his guitar to wherever he got it from before heading out to meet Pyrrha for their usual training sessions, and the other four were actually pretty happy to see that he did seem like he was thinking things over on this. Once he was out of sight, the girls decided that they should address another mystery that was currently on their plates and turned to the other boy that had appeared at their door a moment ago.

"So what brings you over, Lea? Hoping to start another round with Ice Queen instead of waiting for it to happen," Yang joked, much to Weiss's annoyance.

"Actually no. I'm here for two reasons. One, I was curious as to whether or not the fiery powerhouse of Team RWBY had a date for the dance yet," Lea admitted, a sly grin working its way onto his face. Unlike his usual ones though, there was a hint of something else there, like he was trying to cover up his nervousness with a mask of confidence, and that mask seemed to fracture a little bit as he hesitantly added, "Because if not…Well, I was hoping that she would go with me. You know, assuming she'd want to."

"Well, you'll be happy to know that I don't have a date, but I don't get why you're so nervous about asking. I mean, we've spent a lot of time on dates before," Yang reminded him.

"Yeah, I know, but…You see, I was…I was actually hoping that this time we could call it a real date, and not just…a thing with two friends hanging out," Lea finally admitted.

"Oh," Yang gasped in surprised before she absently started brushing her hair with one hand, trying to hide behind her long locks so that no one could see her blushing. "R-really?"

Lea quietly nodded in response, prompting Ruby and Weiss to start acting like a pair of excited kids who were on the edge of their seats at an exciting game or show. Both of them knew that these two fiery individuals had been growing closer and closer lately, to the point where it was getting ridiculous that they were still maintaining the whole "dating for fun" excuse, and now, it looked like things might finally be getting serious between them. That is assuming Lea did not chicken out and that Yang accepted his invite.

After a few more minutes of trying to cool off so that her face was not so red, Yang finally looked to Lea again and said, "Yeah. Yeah, sure. I'd really like that."

If they were not there right now, the girls were all certain that Lea would have attempted to leap over the moon with a victory fist-pump at that answer. It was written all over his face along with the wide smile that had appeared after Yang said yes. Still, they were going to have to keep him on Remnant for a little while longer, as Ruby made clear when she asked, "So what was the second reason you came to talk with us? I mean, did you think you needed my blessing to officially date my sister, because you definitely have it. It's our dad and Uncle Qrow that you most likely have to worry about."

Despite Ruby's attempt at a joke, Lea's mood still turned sour as he then looked at the three girls with a frown. "Well…That's the thing that might be a bit of a long-shot, or get some of you upset," he admitted. "I was wondering…Have you guys seen Sora?"

He was at least a little correct when he guessed that the girls would get upset at hearing that question, as they all had various different frowns once he had asked them that. "Sorry, but no," Weiss answered as politely as she could.

"Uh…Not since class," Ruby sadly stated, trying her best to not think about when she saw Sora after said time.

"Do you really think I would be here and not trying to hide a body if I did," Yang questioned, and no one was sure just how serious she was.

None of their answers seemed to satisfy Lea in the least, given the tired, agonized sigh he let out after hearing them. "Damn it. I was afraid of that," Lea groaned as he slumped against the wall and dropped to the floor.

Now the girls were more worried than anything else, and quickly pulled Lea up and into their room, thinking that it would not be a great idea to have this discussion in the hallway. "Is everything okay," Yang asked.

Lea just shook his head before he explained what had happened. "We were having a kind of team meeting earlier today to talk with Sora about his recent mood change, and a few…other things. We figured that by telling him about some stuff that we'd been keeping from him, he'd finally start at least trying to get back to normal."

"And judging by how you're now here asking if we've seen him, I'd assume that it did not go well," Weiss guessed.

"That's putting it mildly, to say the least," Lea confessed as he thought back to the moment when they finally told Sora about what Yen Sid learned regarding their mission to Remnant and Kairi's presence there.

* * *

_"You're telling me that old bastard sent us on a wild goose chase, and that he didn't even think to mention that there's a chance Kairi may not actually be here," Sora angrily demanded. He was taking it about as well as the others thought he would, optimistically speaking._

_ "No, no! It isn't a wild goose chase, and he didn't even know that there might be a chance she wasn't here until after we had already left," Ventus clarified, not really liking the way Sora had referred to Yen Sid just now, but still stomping down any urge to chastise him for his language and disrespect for the moment._

_ "Oh sure, that makes everything _so_ much better," Sora groused out in anger, not likely to calm down any time soon. "So if Kairi isn't here, then why are we even wasting our time?!"_

_ "We don't know that she isn't Sora, and besides, this is the only world that Yen Sid checked where Kairi was most likely to be found," Lea insisted. "More than that, you can't tell me that coming here is completely worthless. I mean, you've gotten some of your old powers back, or did you forget how you used Firaga Burst during that fight the other night?"_

_ "Not to mention that we've made a lot of great friends that have helped us out quite a few times as well," Roxas reminded him._

_ "None of that matters if we're not any closer to actually accomplishing the main mission," Sora angrily argued. "I don't give a damn about getting back any of my old powers, and while I'm not opposed to making some new friends, the only reason we came here is to find Kairi and bring her home." It was at that point that the others all fell silent again, and Sora could tell from the looks on their faces that it was not just because what he had said was upsetting to them. "Is there something else you guys have been hiding from me?"_

_ "There…might be," Ventus confessed._

_ Hearing that, Sora silently crossed his arms and glared at his three friends, his demand for answers perfectly clear without him needing to say anything. In the end, Lea was the one who sang. "Look, despite this being the most likely place that Kairi ended up, there's still the fact that the two strong lights that Yen Sid did find on Remnant weren't as strong as Kairi's was the last time we saw her. We're not sure what that means, but there is a chance that…well, it might mean that…"_

_ "What," Sora snapped. "It might mean what?"_

_ Lea sighed and finally finished his sentence. "It might mean that Kairi was here, but something happened and now she's…gone."_

_ All anger vanished from Sora, a look of horror now in its place. This was not like the kind of despair Sora had felt during those times in the Keyblade Graveyard though; this was much, much worse than that. He could hardly believe what he had just heard. That Kairi may be…and that his friends were actually considering the possibility…It was just too much for Sora. He was just thankful that his bed was right behind him, otherwise he likely would have fallen to the floor when his legs finally gave out from the shock. Still, even through his shock, Sora was not one to give up hope, but in this case, it really seemed more like desperation or even a stage of grief._

_ "No…No, that's not true," Sora insisted. "She's out there. She's on this world. I know she is!"_

_ "Sora," Ventus started to say, but he did not get any further than that._

_ "She is here! I can feel it in my heart, and she's out there waiting for us to find her," Sora was now starting to shout._

_ "And what if she isn't?! What if you're just imagining things because you can't handle the grief?! Is it really worth working yourself to death and cutting off all the ties you have with your friends just to find out it was all for nothing," Lea shouted back. He quickly took a deep breath to calm down, knowing that getting angry was not going to help things, and then said, "Look, none of us want to believe that Kairi might be gone, but it's been almost a year since we got here, Sora, and we haven't found even one clue or even the smallest sign that she's here."_

_ "So I should just give up and abandon her? Just forget about Kairi and get on with my life like she had never been a part of it," Sora demanded._

_ "No one said anything about forgetting her," Roxas tried to interject, but Sora was not willing to listen._

_ "I made her a promise that I would find her again so that we could go home together, and you guys know that I never break a promise," Sora insisted._

_ "Well you're doing a great job keeping your other promise to her," Roxas said, this time making sure that Sora heard him. Even when Sora turned to glare at him, Roxas did not back down. "I seem to remember you once promising her that you would never change, but Sora…Look at what's been happening to you since that last battle against Xehanort. Most of us barely even recognize you anymore on most days. It's not just the fact that your temper is a lot shorter than it used to be, but the Sora I know would never turn his Keyblade on his friends, even in a moment of anger like you did the other night with Team RWBY."_

_ Sora did not have any retort for that, and the guys took that as a cue to press their advantage. "Sora, no one wants to give up and write Kairi off, but at some point, you just have to accept that there may be a chance she really is gone for good and move on," Ventus tried to say. "I'm not exactly too happy about it, but even with all of our power, there are just some things that we can't do or change."_

_ "We all want Kairi back with us, buddy, but it just doesn't seem like that's going to happen. It may be high time to start considering the worst case scenario and start moving on," Lea reasoned._

_ For a brief moment, the boys thought that they might have gotten through to Sora, even if his silence did not inspire confidence. Though that may have had more to do with how Sora was keeping his head down with his bangs shadowing his eyes, preventing them from getting any real readings on what he was thinking or feeling. For the first time in as long as any of them knew, Sora's thoughts and emotions were a total mystery, and that was probably far scarier than anything that they had ever faced. They found something even more frightening though when Sora looked up, angry eyes burning holes through them faster than any flame that Lea could conjure up, and looking like he was ready to tear apart the world if he had to in order to prove them wrong._

_ "I can't give up on her. I won't," Sora promised as he stood up from the bed he was sitting on. "Kairi is out there. I know she is, and I _am_ going to find her whether you guys help me or not."_

_ "Sora…Hey, Sora! Wait a minute," Ventus called out. "Where you going?!"_

_ "Out," Sora snapped, and with that, he slammed the door closed behind him, hard enough to the point where the guys all swore that they saw cracks forming in the doorframe and the wall around it._

* * *

"…Needless to say, none of us went after him. Ven figured it would be better if we gave Sora some space for a while, but then again, considering that none of us are likely to be Sora's favorite person at the moment, we didn't really need him to say anything," Lea recounted to the girls. He had not really gone into specifics about what they had said to Sora, but he was able to get the idea across to them when he said that their original mission on Remnant might not be as easy to accomplish as they had originally thought. "Problem is…that was a few hours ago, and we haven't seen or heard from him since."

"So why are you looking around or asking us if we've seen him? Can't you find him by tracking his watch," Weiss pointed out.

"Yeah we could, if he was wearing it," Lea revealed, diving into his pocket so that he could show the girl's Sora's discarded Gummiwatch. He then let out another sigh and said, "Whatever it was that happened to Sora the other day, it's definitely made him snap, and we've only made things worse."

"Hey, you can't blame yourself for that," Yang tried to assure him with little success.

"Actually, I can in this case. We kept that stuff from Sora knowing that it would make him worse if he found out, and only told him because it seemed like that had happened anyways, and none of us even have one clue as to what could've happened that made him snap," Lea bemoaned. He especially felt bad about how Sora had run off since he was the one who had suggested the idea of telling him about what Yen Sid discovered. He just wished he knew that it really would cause Sora's breakdown to worsen before they had said anything.

Yang was about to say something else that might ease Lea's guilt, when they all heard a soft thud coming from Weiss and Ruby's side of the room. Turning to the source of said sound, Yang, Weiss, and Lea were all a little surprised and a bit concerned when they saw Ruby stuffing her face into a pillow while letting out a sad moan. "Ruby, is everything okay," Weiss asked.

"No," Ruby admitted, not even wanting to bother with hiding her sorrows even if her voice was muffled by the pillow.

"Look, Sora's acting like a jerk isn't anything to get upset about," Yang started to say.

"He's not acting like a jerk, Yang. He's just…Sora's broken inside, and aside from Ruby, none of us have had any luck at fixing him again," Lea insisted. "At least, that seemed to be the case until…you know."

"Yeah, we do," Ruby replied. "And it's all my fault!"

"Your fault? Ruby, how could any of this be your fault? It's not like you did something that made Sora go off the deep end," Yang questioned. Her sister just remained as she was, moaning miserably into the pillow, and that prompted the blonde to get up and pull Ruby upright again so that she could get some answers. "Ruby, just tell us why you would ever think that Sora's recent attitude has anything to do with you."

Ruby looked around at the people with her in the room, only pausing when her gaze landed on the open door. At that point, Weiss realized that she would want at least some privacy on this matter, and quickly shut the door so that no one in the hall could listen in before she took a seat next to her partner again. Seeing that this was all the privacy that they were going to get, and breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that there did not to be anyone hanging around outside their window, Ruby finally revealed the big secret to the three that were seated around her at this very moment, hoping against hope that they would not freak out too much.

"I kissed him," she squeaked out.

Weiss's eyes immediately widened upon hearing that, while Yang's jaw seemed liable to fall off given how much it had dropped. Out of all of them though, Lea's reaction was the one that seemed most notable as he had turned almost as pale if not paler than Weiss, almost as though the very thing Ruby mentioned had terrified him to no end. Thankfully, Yang was able to find her voice again before her sister could have a chance to think poorly of their reactions. "Like on the cheek, or…" she barely managed to ask.

"No, I mean I _kissed him_, kissed him. Full lip contact and everything," Ruby clarified, still sounding more upset than Yang would have figured her sister would.

"So…how was it," Weiss asked, not sure what else she could ask right now. "I mean, it wasn't…bad, was it? Did he not kiss you back, or…?"

"No, he did, and it was great! I'd never felt happier in my entire life than I had in that moment. It was like something right out of a storybook," Ruby admitted. "And I'm pretty sure he was enjoying it too, but then, he just suddenly pulled away and freaked out, and started muttering that he shouldn't have done it, and all I could really do was just stand there stupidly and say I was sorry even though I really wasn't because it was just so great, and I wish I could do it again, but at the same time I don't want to upset him again, and I feel horrible for wanting to make him do something he clearly feels like he doesn't want to and…Gahaaagggh!"

Once again, Ruby's face was meeting a pillow as she screamed in frustration, nearing the point of crying, and neither of her teammates could really think of anything to say or do to help her. At least Weiss was able to offer some solace by patting Ruby on the back, hoping that would at least soothe her partner a little bit, and eventually, Yang came over to wrap her sister in a comforting hug as well, for all the good it would do. Lea on the other hand could only stare at the hooded huntress in awe, hardly believing what he had just heard, but at the same time, finding that so many things had just started to make sense now. He was so shocked by it all, that he had not even realized he was verbalizing his thoughts until after the fact.

"Yep, that would do it," Lea had muttered, and despite all the noise the frustrated Ruby was making and how quiet he was being, someone still heard him.

"What was that," Yang asked him.

"Uh…Nothing!" Lea attempted to lie, very poorly. "I was just…I just thought of something that might…help to find Sora. Yeah, so I'm gonna go tell the guys about it right away. Thanks for the idea, Ruby!" He then started to beat a hasty retreat before Yang or anyone else in this room could stop him, but still added one last request before he left. "Listen, if you do find him, just please don't do anything stupid. And definitely don't do anything smart either. There's a little grey area in between that is…also full of stuff that you shouldn't do."

"Well then what SHOULD we do if we see him," Weiss asked, not understanding anything Lea was trying to tell them in his apparent stunned state.

"That is a very good question, Weiss. I'm gonna go ask the guys about that. Right now. And get back to you all with the answer later. Okay, bye now," Lea rapidly replied, and the next thing anyone knew, he had raced out of the room faster than Team CRDL would run from an angry Roxas, much to the threes confusion.

"Oh-kaaaay. That was…weird," was the only thing that Yang could think to say at that moment.

"I doubt anyone could possibly be having to deal with worse or stranger drama than this," Weiss muttered, still giving Ruby a reassuring pat on the back in the hopes that it might raise her spirits a little.

Regardless of Lea's rather strange behavior just now, it seemed that there were now two members on Team RWBY that were going to need the dance to be an incredibly unforgettable event if they were going to be cheered up, and while Weiss did not really have many ideas on what to do to ensure that Ruby and Blake would attend and feel better by the time the dance rolled around, Yang certainly had one or two ideas in mind for at least one of her teammates.

* * *

The things that he learned from Lea, Yang, Weiss, and Ruby stuck with Jaune for quite a while after that conversation in the hallway. While he was not opposed to the idea of Pyrrha liking him, it was just too hard to imagine it being true. After all, this was _Pyrrha_, his partner and one of his best friends since initiation, and probably one of the few people who had never wavered in their belief in his ability to be a huntsman once. Plus, the girl was also talented, famous, and, if Jaune was being honest, incredibly beautiful, so he had no clue as to how a guy like him could ever have a chance with her. Yes, he was well aware how that made him sound, given the fact that he had tried to flirt with Weiss in the past, but Pyrrha was a different story. She was not just a celebrity; she was his partner and one of his best friends at Beacon. The idea that things between them could go beyond friendship just seemed a little too far out there for him. At least, that was what he had been telling himself even before the eye-opener that his friends had given him. After that moment though, he started to really take notice of certain details in his partner and not just in the physical sense either.

It had actually started during his regular training session with Pyrrha that same night. Even after all the time that had passed, the two would still meet up on that same rooftop to train together, and Jaune could definitely see some improvement in his skills and abilities. Apparently, Pyrrha had noticed too, given how proudly she had smiled when he actually managed to push her back a little and made her get a little more serious during their sword training. Sure, Jaune still lost, but that mattered little to him, because the fact that he had not only lasted longer this time but also managed to push Pyrrha further onto the defensive than ever was evidence of his growth. Pyrrha certainly seemed to agree with how happy she seemed. She even let loose a quick laugh to show that she had actually been enjoying things, and it was in that moment that Jaune realized that he did not really hear his champion partner laughing all that often. Not that it was weird or anything; in fact, her laugh was actually quite lovely in Jaune's ears, and he found himself wanting to hear it more often.

When she helped him up again and then offered to listen to whatever troubles he had when he admitted to not feeling up to practicing with his Aura that night, Jaune found himself getting a little tongue-tied for the first time since meeting her, but only because he noticed the way her eyes seemed to light up when he met them with his. It only made sense, given that her armor would probably make it easy for many other guys and some girls to pay more attention to other parts of her body, but for Jaune, it always seemed natural to keep his eyes on Pyrrha's face. This time was a little different though, especially after he mentioned that he was thinking about the dance and saw that her eyes seemed to sparkle a little in a way that indicated she was getting excited. Jaune had not even realized that he had taken notice of such a little detail about Pyrrha before, and as he thought that over, he realized that there were a few other things that he had noticed about her which others probably had not.

For one thing, whenever Pyrrha got excited, aside from that sparkle in her eyes, there was a slight twitch in her legs that indicated she was trying to stop herself from so much as bouncing on the balls of her feet, similar to how Ruby would at certain times. When she was feeling depressed, Jaune had also noticed that her shoulders were slightly more slumped down, even when she was putting on a brave face that hid her sadness. Even in battle, Jaune had picked up on some cues that others might not have realized. One example would be how he noticed that her hands would sometimes twitch when she seemed like she could not decide right away if it would be better to use her Semblance or just block with her weapons. Looking at Pyrrha that night also allowed him to realize that the moon seemed to add an extra, luminescent shine to her hair and face that made her seem just a little more angelic than she did in the day time, and it was at that point that Jaune realized that this was not something he could talk to Pyrrha about. He was not sure if she really believed him when he brushed it off as nothing serious, but he did feel his heart clench a little when he saw a bit of disappointment flash in her eyes, but that did not stop him from looking for help on this from another source.

Thankfully, Jaune's team did consist of at least one other guy, and he had not hesitated to seek out said teammate so that they could talk at the first chance he had. "Ren, we need to talk," Jaune insisted when he caught the boy. The only problem was that Ren had just come out of the shower, and he doubted that either of them would be comfortable talking so long as one of them was in a towel, and quickly added, "As soon as you get dressed."

Ren nodded in thanks for that, not wanting to be in a towel for what was likely to be a very long or very strange conversation. It was really hard to tell with Jaune sometimes, but since the guy was seeking him out on this, Ren figured he might as well hear what was on his team leader's mind. Jaune did not have to wait too long for Ren to get back into his usual outfit, but he did wish that he had taken a little more time so that he could get his thoughts together. In retrospect, he probably should have thought about how to approach the topic with Ren a little sooner, but it was too late to worry about it now, so he figured he might as well just dive in. Albeit as gently as possible.

"Ren, I'm just gonna come out and say it," Jaune started off, not knowing that he had made Ren a little nervous with that line, or that the ninja had mentally sighed in relief at the next part. "You are one of my best guy friends. These past few months, I feel like we've really bonded…Even though you don't say all that much. I mean, you are _really_ quiet. Probably about as quiet as Blake, but in a less moody way. Don't ever tell her I said that please. To be perfectly honest, I may not know too much about you personally, but darn it, that doesn't stop me from thinking of you like the brother I never had."

"And I you," Ren assured the young knight, even though there were several points of that speech that had him a little more nervous than others. If it were not for the fact that he knew Jaune liked girls, he would have been a lot more certain of that going a very different direction.

"Which is why I wanted to get your advice on…girls," Jaune finally revealed.

"Girls? What do you mean by that," Ren asked, now confused as to why Jaune would think he had any advice on the matter, at least until he remembered who he was talking to.

"Yeah, I just…I don't know…well…girls," Jaune stuttered, floundering a little at last. "Um, I guess what I'm trying to ask is…well, I mean, you do seem like you might know a few things considering you and Nora…That is, how did you two…?"

"Nora?! Uh…Uh…I-I mean…" For the first time since he had known him, Jaune heard Lie Ren stutter, completely broken out from his usual stoic, calm façade. Apparently he had not been expecting that at all, and it was not helping Jaune's expectations for any advice that he got from his teammate.

"Ahem," someone cut in, and the boys both turned to the girl that Jaune had just brought up laughing nervously. "We're not actually _together_, together."

"NORA, I SAID HEADPHONES ON," Jaune snapped, causing the girl to quickly obey the command as she pulled said device back up over her ears. His annoyance quickly vanished though when her words registered in his head. "Wait, you two aren't…? But I could've sworn that you two were a couple. I mean, with how close you are and how you act around each other…"

"Jaune, is there any particular reason why you're asking about this," Ren interrupted, and despite regaining his usual calm, his question did seem like it had rushed out a little more quickly than it should have been to be considered casual interest.

Seeing that he could no longer just beat around the bush, Jaune sighed and finally got as much of the problem off his chest as he could. "Well…there's this girl…She's been a great friend to me ever since we started at Beacon, and some people have implied that she might have feelings for me. Beyond friendship, I mean. I honestly thought it was silly at first; I mean, she's just so incredible, talented, smart, and beautiful, and that's all without the reputation she has, so it was a little hard to imagine that she would actually fall for a guy like me. Don't get me wrong; after really thinking about it, I will admit that I would love to be with her, but like I said, we're best friends, and I'm not sure that I really want to risk that. I'm just worried that I might mess everything up by telling her that I've started to think of her as more than a friend and end up losing her forever if she doesn't feel the same way."

Ren would not lie; that little speech was rather heartwarming. Sure, Jaune was not being as subtle as he thought he was in professing his feelings for this "mystery girl," but hearing such an honest confession made him hold back his urge to call Jaune out on how he knew exactly what girl Jaune was more than likely talking about. Right when he was about to give Jaune some advice on how to proceed with this matter, which if he were being honest, probably would not have helped too much, someone else spoke up that he had been sure was not even anywhere near their room at the time.

"Just tell her then," said Pyrrha Nikos herself, startling all three members of Team JNPR with her sudden entrance. "Tell her everything that you just said. No ridiculous schemes, no pick-up lines; just be honest."

"But…but I…" Jaune stuttered, still stuck on wondering how long Pyrrha had been at the door, listening to everything that he had just said.

"Jaune, you can't get it wrong if it's the truth," Pyrrha assured him. "If she really does feel that strongly for you, then I'm sure that this girl will be overjoyed to have you ask her out, whether it's to the dance or just at all. From the sound of things, she could be that one special girl that everyone's looking for, at least for you."

Hearing that made Jaune brighten up a bit, and gain a new sense of confidence inside. Confidence that only grew at seeing Pyrrha's encouraging smile, but behind that, he could see a sense of sadness in her eyes as well, indicating that she probably thought he was talking about someone else, and in that moment, Jaune found that he wanted nothing more than to show her otherwise. "You're right," Jaune nodded. "She is that special one, and I'm not going to let her get away."

"So…I guess that means you're going to go find her and ask her to the dance now," Pyrrha guessed, her sadness slowly creeping into her voice and proving Jaune's hunch.

"Yeah. I'm gonna ask her right now," Jaune confirmed, moving closer to Pyrrha without her noticing.

"Well…You'd best go find her then," Pyrrha asked.

"I don't really need to look. She's already here," Jaune revealed, confusing his partner afterwards. He was going to change that in a minute though. "Pyrrha, will you go to the dance with me?"

Pyrrha froze, not entirely sure her ears had heard that right, or even if she was awake right now on the off-chance that they had. Given the way that Ren was smiling a little proudly while Nora's jaw had dropped to the floor, she must have, but she was still a little too shell-shocked to properly process anything. "Wh-what," she finally whispered.

Jaune could not help but chuckle a bit as he joked, "And the others said I was being dense. Pyrrha, that girl I was talking about is you, and I meant every word. I know you're not perfect; heck, I probably know that better than anyone with how close we are, but I don't care about that. I just care about you: Pyrrha Nikos, a brave, loyal friend who apologizes a bit more than she probably should, is not just beautiful but also incredibly strong in body and spirit, and is just simply the most caring and selfless person I've ever met, even if it means that you have to sacrifice your own happiness for it." Even after saying all of that, he lowered his head a bit as he added, "It's alright if you don't want to go with me though. I'm sure you've got a few dozen other guys lining up to ask you, a lot of which are probably way better than some guy who faked his way into this school…"

"Actually Jaune, there isn't any other guys," Pyrrha revealed, much to Jaune's surprise. "Nobody has asked me to the dance until now."

"What? But that's…That's crazy! I mean, you're Pyrrha Nikos! How could nobody else have asked you besides me," Jaune questioned, his disbelief being shared a little with the rest of his teammates. Even if they knew that she would be holding out for Jaune, Ren and Nora were a little perplexed by the idea that no one would have asked Pyrrha at all.

"It's because of that, actually," Pyrrha revealed with a sad look on her face. "I've been…blessed with incredible talents and opportunities, and constantly surrounded by love and praise my entire life. The problem with being placed on a pedestal like that for so long is that it ends up causing you to become separated from the people who put you there. Everyone just assumes that I'm too good for them; that I'm on a level that they simply can't attain, and that's made it impossible for me to form any sort of meaningful relationship with people, whether it's in terms of friendships or something more than that." She then smiled a bit more as she faced Jaune again and added, "That's one of the things I like about you, Jaune. When we met, you had no idea who I was. You didn't even know my name."

"Is it weird that I think that still sounds like a bad thing," Jaune asked.

"Maybe a little," Pyrrha giggled. "But to me, it was relief. Even after you learned about my status, you've continued to treat me like I was just 'Pyrrha,' like I wasn't any different from everyone else, and not 'Pyrrha, the invincible girl,' and thanks to you, I've made friendships that will last a lifetime." Her smile became much warmer and heartfelt as she finished, "What I'm saying is…you're the kind of guy that I would want to be with, more than anything: someone who just sees me for me."

Jaune smiled upon hearing that, and said, "Hey, it's not like I really had to think about it, but if I did, it would only have been fair. You saw something in me that made you believe in me even when others didn't, including me."

"You've never given me any reason not to," Pyrrha insisted.

"So…does that mean…?" Jaune prompted.

"Yes, I would love to go to the dance with you," Pyrrha finally answered, her smile already stretching across her face to the point where you would think it would cover it entirely.

When he heard Pyrrha's answer, Jaune found a grin of his own forming, and before he knew it, he had scooped Pyrrha into his arms and happily spun her around, much to her surprise and both of their delight. The moment quickly ended when they realized what they were doing and jumped apart, obviously still a little nervous about this new development in their relationship, but happy all the same. "Uh…S-sorry," Jaune said. "I guess we're probably not quite…"

"No, no, it's fine. I…I liked it," Pyrrha insisted, her hand slowly coming to wrap around his just to show how little it bothered her.

"Okay, great," Jaune sighed in relief. "Well, I should…I should probably make sure that my suit is ready, so…"

"Yeah, I've…I've got to check on my dress, too, so I'll…I'll see you later," Pyrrha replied.

"Yeah, later," Jaune nodded as they both turned to the door. Right when he was about to head out though, he turned back to Pyrrha, still feeling pretty brave, and leaned in to plant a quick kiss on her cheek, much to her surprise. "Uh, hehe, I thought that might be a better send off that just 'see ya later," Jaune nervously replied.

"I…I see," Pyrrha stuttered, unable to really say anything else, but still smiling all the same. Her smile brightened a little more after she returned the gesture and pecked Jaune on his cheek, drawing a brilliant blush followed by a goofy smile from said boy, much to her amusement.

After that, the pair finally headed out to take care of the business they had just mentioned, leaving Ren and Nora alone to exchange looks and one simple thought. "Finally," Ren cheered.

"You said it, Renny," Nora agreed. She then turned a little nervous and asked, "So, we're going to the dance together too, right?"

"I was unaware that was ever in question," Ren replied with a smile. "I mean, we've already attended a lot of other things together, why would this be any different?"

"Oh, uh…No reason," Nora laughed off, even while she was grumbling a little in her head. _'Now I just need to work on getting _him_ a wakeup call.'_

* * *

The day before the dance was nearly upon Beacon, and just about everyone was excited for it. If it was not a case of trying to find a date at the last minute, then it was final preparations for their party attire. Sure, most of the guys would be wearing the customary dress version of their regular uniforms, but all the girls were definitely eager to show off how great they would look in whatever dress they would choose for the night. At the same time though, there were still some that were not quite as excited about the dance as others were.

One such example could most likely have been Sora were it not for the fact that no one had seen him in a few days, and that in effect made the rest of Team SLVR really worried and unable to really feel that excited about the dance. What really came off as strange was that after Lea had learned about Ruby and Sora's shared kiss, Roxas had started insisting to everyone that he be the one they get in touch with if they found him. Clearly the former Nobody had some kind of plan in store, but he was not saying as to what it was. Aside from that hiccup, the guys were still pretty eager for the dance to roll around.

The other example of people who were not as excited about the dance as everyone else was Ruby, who was currently slumped over on one of the tables in the ballroom as her sister and partner led the charge on finishing with the decorations for the big event. At least, she was slumped over, until Weiss suddenly slapped down two samples of cloth in front of her. "Ruby, I need you to help me pick a tablecloth," Weiss insisted as she slid the two samples closer for her team leader's examination.

Let it be known that Ruby Rose was not dumb; she knew exactly why Weiss was asking her about this instead of someone that might actually be able to see a difference between the two, off-white squares. It was the same reason why she and Yang had dragged their saddened leader to the ballroom in the first place. They figured that having Ruby around to help them with decorating for the dance would keep her distracted from any thoughts about Sora. Too bad for them, being in the place where such a big event was taking place only reminded Ruby about how Blake had insisted that she would not be going to the dance. Plus, there was also the fact that Ruby had been hoping to go to the dance with Sora, and that just made her even more upset, so really, the distraction ended up being an even bigger reminder about the problem that was plaguing Ruby's mind. Still, she was willing to humor her friends, even if she was not feeling like her usual self at the moment, but she still doubted she would be much help with this.

"Weiss, they both look exactly the same to me," Ruby admitted, even after studying the two squares for a few extra minutes.

That was not the answer Weiss was hoping for, but she knew that now was not the time to be getting upset with her partner about any little thing, so she just settled for moving away from Ruby in a mild huff. After Weiss had left, Ruby slumped over again, barely even noticing when Yang came by to set down one of the large speakers that would used to play the music for the dance. It may have seemed weird that Ruby would miss something like that, given that the speaker had been set on the floor with a small boom and that it actually made her and the table she was moping on bounce into the air, but then again, she had grown up with Yang, so she was used to small exhibits of her strength like that.

Seeing her sister still looking depressed, Yang took a moment to dust off her hands and check in on the poor girl. "So, have you picked out a dress yet," Yang asked.

"What's the point? Who cares about the dance if Blake isn't going," Ruby miserably questioned in return.

"Oh don't worry. She's going, and I can guarantee that Sora will be going too," Yang confidently promised.

Ruby perked up a little bit when she heard that, not necessarily looking like she was feeling better, but really more surprised than anything. "I never said…"

"You didn't have to. I just know you that well, Sis," Yang kindly reminded her. That kindness did not last though when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye she did not agree with and immediately turned to the perpetrator behind it. "Weiss! I thought we agreed no doilies!"

"Hey! If I don't get doilies, then you don't get fog machines," Weiss immediately retorted.

"Really? You're going to deny us having fog machines at the dance if you don't get some stupid pieces of cloth? That's pretty cold even for you, Ice Princess," Lea joked as he stepped into the room with his two blonde buddies on one side of him while Sun and Neptune were on the other.

"Oh! Well, I wasn't actually being serious, I just…I-I mean," Weiss stuttered, her confidence suddenly taking a nose dive upon seeing Ventus. Not that she really understood why she was suddenly nervous around him, but she had a feeling that the things that she had talked with her friends about the other day were having a weird effect on her.

"Hey, if you want to have doilies, I say go for it," Ventus said in support of Weiss, earning him weird looks from the others. "What? Aqua's got a bit of thing for stuff like that, but I think that's mostly because it was something that Master Eraqus would always insist on having at big social events like this, if we ever had that many of them. I mean, Terra always said that they did so…"

"Speaking of Aqua, where's she been lately? I haven't really seen her around," Yang pointed out.

"Off on a mission. Apparently there was a big Heartless attack that King Mickey needed some help with, and Riku was caught up dealing with a separate problem with Naminé and Terra. So, as the old saying goes, a Keyblade master's work is never done. She said she would be back in time for the dance though, and that she was bringing Terra with her, so I'd say it's a safe bet that we'll be seeing her again tomorrow night," Lea shrugged like it was no big deal.

"So I'm guessing that it was on another world, right, since we haven't heard anything about those Heartless things attacking here," Neptune guessed.

"Dude, shush! Don't go blabbing about other worlds just anywhere," Roxas hissed after elbowing the blue haired boy. "But yeah, it was in such a place."

"That's pretty cool," Neptune grinned. "Wish we could see some of these places you guys have been too."

"Yeah, where did Aqua's mission take her anyway," Sun inquired.

"A world called the Caribbean, where you can experience all kinds of cool adventures on the high seas worthy of the greatest pirates," Roxas revealed.

"Yeah, it's one of Sora's favorite places to visit," Lea added on.

"Dude, no way! Are you saying there's a world out there that is almost entirely made up of oceans, and where you can fight honest to god pirates?!" Sun asked, clearly really excited, while Neptune on the other hand seemed to have gone a little pale.

"Not just fight against them; there's a few that you can team up with too," Roxas replied.

"That is awesome! We have to go there someday," Sun insisted.

"Uh…I don't know. That sounds…really dangerous," Neptune stuttered.

"Nah, its fine, trust us," Lea reassured him. "But before we start making any travel plans, maybe we should worry about the plans we have on this world."

"Yeah, I get you," Sun agreed. "So, you all ready to get all fancy and dress up?"

"Pfft! Yeah right," Ruby scoffed in denial. Even if she was excited about the dance, she would still not have been too fond of getting all fancied up. She may wear combat skirts, but an actual dress was just not Ruby's style.

"Laugh all you want. I'll be turning heads tomorrow night," Yang proudly promised.

"Hopefully you'll only be paying attention to one guy's head instead of all the others," Lea teased with a grin. "Besides, if anyone's going to be turning heads, it'll be Roxas and Xion. I guarantee those two are going to be the envy of every couple in the room given the ensemble that they've got lined up."

"Axel," Roxas grumbled in embarrassment.

"So you and Xion are going together," Weiss guessed.

"Naturally," Roxas confirmed. "Xion's especially excited since this will be her first dance."

"Really," the girls all exclaimed.

"Yeah, really. What did you think any of us had time to stop and party during our past adventures," Lea asked. "Trust me, she's got good reason to be excited. Though that's not much excuse for how my ears are still ringing from how loudly and happily she had been squealing when Roxas asked her, or the amount of time spent yesterday helping her to find the perfect outfit for said occasion."

"Okay Lea, we get it," Ventus told his friend. A second later though, he did mutter under his breath, "Even if that does explain where you two went the other day after class was over."

"What about you? What are you guys going to be wearing," Weiss then asked of the other boys.

"Sorry Ice Princess, but I'm keeping it a surprise for my beautiful date," Lea denied. "Although, I am curious if you're going to be wearing some formal version of your armor or something, Ven."

"Yeah, that's not happening. The formal version of my armor is just my usual armor with a cape, and while it is tempting to show up like a knight in shining armor, I'm just going to stick with a simple suit, thank you very much," Ventus insisted.

"Xion insisted that I keep quiet on our attire so that we can surprise everyone on the night of the dance," Roxas admitted.

That just left the two boys from Mistral, and one of them did not really seem to get why he would be wearing something different from his usual attire. "Uh…this," Sun answered as he gestured to his usual open shirt and blue jeans.

"Ignore him, for he knows not what he says, and is dumb," Neptune excused for his friend.

"Said the rookie cop," Lea grinned, reminding Neptune of his poor interrogation skills from the other night of their investigation, much to the boy's chagrin.

Sun appreciated the assist, but he was plenty confident in his ability to stick up for himself. Although he probably should not have tried, given what he did say in his defense. "Hey, I may have moved to Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo. It's not exactly a shirt-and-tie kind of place."

"Yeah, we've noticed," Yang deadpanned, her flat look lining up with those of her teammates and friends.

Sun could tell he was not going to be winning any points on this matter, but he did not need to think for long to find another topic to pursue. "So, what does Blake think of all this," he asked. "Is she still being all…ya know…Blake-y?"

"Obviously," Weiss sighed. It was no secret to anyone that Blake was another person who was not looking forward to the dance, as she had insisted time and again that she had no intention of attending, and Team RWBY had yet to come up with any way to change her mind. At least, most of them had not.

"Don't worry. I've got that covered," Yang stated.

"What makes you think you're gonna be able to make her change her mind," Ruby inquired, curious as to what her sister had in mind.

"Just trust me. Blake will be at the dance tomorrow," Yang insisted before she made her exit from the ballroom.

"Great. So while Yang's dealing with one sourpuss, how do we solve the problem of the one person who's being _more_ Blake-y than Blake," Lea inquired.

"I wish I knew," Ruby sighed before she stood up and slowly trudged out of the ballroom, only muttering something about heading back to her team's room as an indication of where she was going.

Seeing how sad Ruby was by the whole thing, and now knowing the reason behind it was also part of the reason for Sora's steep decline, Roxas now felt his resolve to find Sora growing stronger than ever, and it showed in his voice when he next spoke. "You guys just focus on making sure you're all ready for the dance," he told the rest of their group of friends. "I'll deal with getting Sora back to his senses again."

"What makes you so sure you can," Weiss asked.

"…Personal reasons," Roxas answered, and he left it at that before he also departed from the ballroom, with most of the others watching after him with curious looks. The only one who did not was Lea, who was merely frowning sadly after his best friend.

_'It may have been a while, but you still feel a little guilty about that time, don't you bud,"_ the redhead thought to himself.

* * *

Blake was not sure what was more embarrassing; the fact that Yang had tricked her into taking a break from her attempts to find Torchwick so they could talk, or the method said blonde had used to trick her. Really, betrayed by her own animal instincts, and all because of a stupid laser pointer! What was she, a toddler Faunus?! Maybe her teammates had a point in saying that she was starting to wear herself out, because there was no way that would have worked under normal circumstances. If she had decided to follow that little red dot otherwise, it would have been because it was annoying her to the point where she wanted to tear the person using it apart for thinking that she would play around with it like an actual cat. At least, that was what she would be saying if anyone asked in the future, and it was not like anyone would be brave or stupid enough to question her on it. Not that she was able to change anything now, since she was caught firmly in Yang's grasp and being forced to follow her partner to wherever they were going to have this talk that they apparently needed to have.

After being around Yang for all this time, Blake knew that there was no stopping her when she really wanted something, so she figured that she would just let Yang pull her along until they had reached their destination. She would be able to tell Yang off much better then. At least that was the plan, until something caught her attention and made her put more of an effort into making Yang stop.

"Yang, wait a minute," Blake said.

"Oh no. This is not up for debate," Yang denied, thinking that Blake was trying to worm her way out of this conversation. "You and I are going to have this talk, even if I have to…"

"No Yang, seriously, stop," Blake ordered this time with a sense of urgency in her voice.

That certainly got Yang's attention, partly because of how this was the first time she heard Blake speak in a way that was not heavy with anger or weariness lately, and partly because the slightly panicked look that was in Blake's eyes when she turned to face the cat Faunus. "What is it," she asked.

"Sora," Blake answered.

Yang could not help but roll her eyes at hearing that name, and she immediately said, "Look, I'll worry about him later, after Roxas does whatever it is he's going to do with him. Right now, I'm a little more focused on…"

"No, Yang, its Sora! Over there," Blake clarified in a panic, sprinting off in the direction she was facing.

"Huh," Yang asked, her eyes following after her partner until she looked past Blake to see what she had spotted. When she did, her own eyes widened in panic as well, and just like that, she was rushing after her partner as she gasped out, "Oh my god! Sora!"

The reason why the girls were so freaked out was easy to see. There, lying on the ground, was the spiky haired, Destiny Islander himself, apparently unconscious, and when the girls got close enough, they could see that his clothes were littered with dirt stains, tears of varying sizes, and a few different kinds of splotches that could have been from either sweat or blood. It was most likely his own blood, as they could see several cuts on Sora's exposed skin, along with even more dirt as well. Adding on to the mess of the boy was the fact that his hair was much more disheveled and wilder than usual, while it looked like one of his usual gauntlets had been damaged to the point where it was liable to fall off at any minute, a very likely scenario since it was missing its yellow strap. When they turned him over, even though they were being incredibly gentle, they could hear him faintly groaning in pain, and they soon found out why. Sora's front exposed even more injuries, a lot of them on his torso, while his jacket was missing some of its buttons and had one of its pockets torn to the point where it was just hanging loosely on its seams. The only part of Sora's outfit that did not seem damaged was his crown necklace, and even that had a bit of grime on it.

Seeing Sora in such bad shape made Yang completely forget any reason she ever had to be angry with him, and she quickly started doing whatever she could think of to make sure that he was not dead, or in any danger of ending up that way in the next few seconds. She probably should have realized he was still alive just from the earlier noise of pain he had let out when she and Blake turned him over, but Yang was still much more relieved to find a faint pulse after checking him for one. Still, Sora's pants had way too many pockets for her to rifle through in order to find any of his usual magic healing potions and elixirs, and considering that his pants looked like they were going to fall apart from the slightest touch, Yang was not too eager to try her luck there, so she figured that now was the time to follow Roxas's orders on what to do if they found Sora.

"Blake, call Roxas, right now," Yang ordered her partner.

"Are you crazy, Yang? We need to get him to the school infirmary," Blake tried to argue.

"We may not have time to get him there! Just call Roxas," Yang insisted.

This time Blake did not argue, and quickly whipped out her Scroll so that she could dial Roxas's number. When he picked up, all she had to say was that they had found Sora and that he was in bad shape, and Roxas was instantly promising that he would be there as soon as possible once he was told their location. All they could do at that point was silently, worriedly wait, but the wait was not completely quiet. No, they found the air being filled with nearly indecipherable mutterings, courtesy of the barely conscious Keyblade wielder. Yang was not really able to make out much of what Sora was saying, but Blake could pick up on one or two different things thanks to her stronger sense of hearing.

"No…Please…" Sora quietly grunted under his breath. "Don't…Please come back…Kairi…I won't…Ruby…No, not you too…I've gotta…I can't let this happen again…Kairi…Ruby…Please…d-don't…go…"

Even though it was clear that Sora was either dreaming or hallucinating, Blake was not entirely sure what to make of most of the things he was saying. She could tell that it had to be a nightmare, and that Ruby must have been involved for some reason, but everything else just left her confused. Who was Kairi? Why did it sound like Sora was begging for her to come back? And how was Ruby involved in any of it to begin with? It did not make any sense to Blake, and from the look on Yang's face when she told her what she heard, it seemed that her partner was just as much in the dark as Blake was.

It was actually right when they were about to start actually talking about any ideas or guesses they had about the gibberish Sora was spouting when Roxas finally came racing onto the scene. When he saw Yang supporting Sora as gently as she could in his current state, the worry on Roxas's face seemed to suddenly increase several times over, and did not stop even after he had slid down next to his friends. "Cover me," Roxas ordered the two as he summoned out Oathkeeper.

Knowing what that was the Keyblade wielders' code for, the girls both jumped to their feet and started keeping an eye out for anyone that might pass by while doing their best to keep Roxas hidden from view as he literally worked his magic. Roxas may not be the most adept at magic, but Sora had made it a point to make sure that everyone on the team was at least able to perform all the various levels of the Cure spell, and the former Nobody was now very thankful that he had. Nothing short of the best healing magic was going to help Sora reach the point of being safe to move to somewhere a little more comfortable than the hard ground of the school's courtyard. After he saw that the last of the injuries had disappeared from Sora's body, Roxas checked to make sure that nothing else was wrong with his friend, and then started lifting Sora up off the ground as best as he could. That was not an easy task to accomplish.

"Ugh, I think this guy needs to cut back on the ice cream for a little bit," Roxas muttered as he struggled under Sora's weight. The next thing he knew, Sora became surprisingly easier to move, and he turned to see that Yang was helping to support the leader of Team SLVR as well. "Thanks," Roxas nodded.

Yang just nodded in return, happy that she was able to do a little more to help right now. "So, are we taking him to the school infirmary now?"

"Heck no; that's crazy talk," Roxas denied nearly as fast as Ruby could run. "We're taking him back to our room. There's a little chat I need to have with him when he wakes up, and this time, I'm not letting him leave until he actually listens."

Despite not knowing all the details of what he could mean by that, the girls still nodded in response to Roxas's decision, and began heading for Team SLVR's room as quickly as they could go. Of course, they had not gotten very far before Blake finally asked Roxas the question that was burning in her mind almost as much as the matters relating to their investigation. "Roxas, who's Kairi," the cat Faunus asked.

If it were not for the fact that he was currently supporting Sora, and that Yang was helping him to do so, Roxas probably would have frozen completely when he heard that name escape Blake's lips. That did not stop his eyes from widening in surprise though, or his voice from sounding very astonished when he quietly asked, "Where did you hear that name?"

"Sora was muttering it just a moment ago, along with Ruby's name and a lot of other things," Blake revealed. "So…who is she?"

Even without looking at the two partners, Roxas knew there was going to be little chance of keeping this from either of them, given that they would more than likely be sticking around to make sure that Sora was okay once they got him back to their dorm room, but he was not going to just blurt it out in a place where anyone could overhear. "I'll explain once we've got Sora to our room," Roxas promised.

The girls seemed to accept that, but while they just continued on in curious silence, Roxas was mentally panicking in his head for the moment when Sora woke up and found out that they now knew about Kairi. He was just glad that one of his usual, go-to plans could be used in this scenario. Just with one small adjustment. _'If he asks, it's all mainly Axel's fault.'_

* * *

When they finally arrived in Team SLVR's room, Yang could not help but smirk a little at seeing how the boys had turned their beds into bunk beds like Team RWBY had, and that smirk grew a little more when Roxas admitted that Sora got the idea from Ruby. Impressed or not though, it did not change the fact that getting Sora into his bunk would have been a challenge right now, given that his was one of the top bunks, so they had to settle for laying him down in Ven's bed for the moment, after Roxas had gotten Sora changed into some clean clothes. Blake was about to offer her services in repairing the damaged ones when she saw that the damaged garments were already fixing themselves, even to the point where they were replacing the jacket's missing buttons.

Yang had taken notice of that too, and since they had already gotten Sora well situated in the bed, she had no problem asking Roxas about that. "Another benefit of having magic outfits," Roxas shrugged when he gave the simple explanation. "They always fix themselves no matter how much damage they take."

That worked for Blake and Yang, but it did not distract them from the reason why they were still in the room even after helping Roxas get Sora situated. "So, if you're done leaving us in suspense, tell us who this Kairi person is," Yang prompted.

Her question drew a sad look onto Roxas's face, along with a sad sigh as he sat down in one of the desk chairs in the room, waving for the girls to do the same wherever they could. That all told them that this was either going to be a long story, or a very serious one, so they did not argue or refuse the offer to sit, with each of them taking a seat on Lea's bed. "First off, let me just say that I need you guys to keep all of this to yourselves," Roxas requested, feeling that it was necessary to do so before he told them anything. "Sora will tell everyone about it in his own time, but above all else, I need you to promise that you won't tell Ruby. It would be much better if she heard about it from Sora himself."

"Okay, sure," Blake shrugged indifferently. Sure, it may seem like she was not seeing this as a big deal, but if she were being honest, she was in fact able to see just how important this matter seemed to be for Roxas.

"I swear on my honor as a huntress," Yang assured her fellow blonde, and that served as Roxas's cue to finally reveal the big secret.

"When we told you about our history, even if it was an abridged version, there was one particular detail we left out, which I'm sure you all noticed," Roxas began as carefully as he could. "There were a lot of different reasons for doing so though, but the biggest ones were because…well, it still hurt quite a bit for us to talk about it, and because Sora has been taking it harder than anyone else."

Even in her weary state, Blake was able to put enough pieces together to figure out what Roxas was getting at. "Does this have anything to do with that friend you all came to Remnant to find," she asked.

"Try everything to do with her, actually," Roxas corrected, finally specifying whether or not that friend was a boy or a girl at last. "Kairi is the missing friend we're trying to find, but she's so much more than that. She's also one of the previous and new seven Princesses of Heart, probably the first of said individuals to become a Keyblade wielder, and…"

"And what," Yang asked, not liking the way that Roxas had paused just now.

"…And Sora's first love," he finally revealed, drawing astonished gasps from the yellow and black members of Team RWBY when he did. "Kairi and Sora had known each other for years, ever since she just suddenly appeared on Destiny Islands one night after a meteor shower, and over the course of being best friends for all that time, they both found their feelings for each other growing stronger. Most of Sora's journeys, be it his first, second, or even the third one, were all about Sora finding his way back to Kairi, because even after returning home with his friends after his second adventure, Sora ended up being dragged away on another quest shortly after that, if for no other reason than the fact that there were people out there who needed his help, and who helped him to become who he is. Despite that though, Kairi was still willing to let him go, because she knew that every time he left, he would always promise to come back again, and that no matter where either of them went, they were always with each other."

"Whoa," Yang gasped. Even if Roxas was summarizing it as briefly as possible, she could still pick up on the romantic nuances that were woven into the tale of Sora and Kairi. Plus, it had the added benefit of helping her to make sense of a few other things as well. "That explains why he had freaked out after he and Ruby kissed," she absently muttered aloud.

"I'm sorry. What happened," Blake exclaimed, having only just now heard about this.

"I'll tell you more, later," Yang assured her partner. "Like I was saying, I'd be pretty freaked out too if I suddenly kissed another girl behind my girlfriend's back like that."

"Yeah…the thing is…Sora and Kairi never really got together in the official sense," Roxas revealed. "I mean, the closest that they ever came to sharing their feelings with each other was when they shared a paopu fruit the night before our final battle against Xehanort and his thirteen darknesses."

"How does sharing a fruit count as a way of expressing their feelings to one another," Blake questioned.

"Oh, right. You probably don't know about that," Roxas remembered. "Well, do you guys know about the story behind Ven's good luck charm? Namely the part about the tree that grows star-shaped fruit?" Both girls nodded yes in reply to the question. "Well, that same tree is actually on Sora's homeworld, and the fruit is called a paopu fruit. Plus, there's another legend that's just as if not more well known than the one about carrying good luck charms shaped like the fruit. It's said that when two people share one, their destinies become intertwined, and they'll remain a part of each other's lives forever."

"Okay, yeah. That does sound really romantic," Blake admitted.

"But from what you're telling us, they never did anything more than that," Yang cottoned on. "Never said 'I love you,' or kissed, or anything else?"

"Afraid not," Roxas confirmed. "I can say with total confidence that your sister definitely has the honor of being Sora's first kiss. Then again, to be fair, it's a little hard to find a romantic moment for any of that when you're constantly being pulled away into some big adventure to help save all the worlds from darkness. I'm honestly more amazed that they even had that one night and the confidence to finally share that fruit with each other."

"Oh geez. Now I feel like a jerk," Yang grumbled, earning her questioning stares from the two. "Sure, Sora was being really lousy with how he's been acting lately, and especially the other night, but I was too busy being angry over the fact that he made Ruby upset to realize that he was only acting that way because he's been dealing with a broken heart."

"Hey, don't do that to yourself. You didn't know, and that's partly our fault for not telling you," Roxas reassured the blonde. He then let out another sad sigh as he added, "But then again, you can't really blame us. Even if some of us hadn't been particularly close to Kairi for all that long, what happened to her still hurt everyone a lot, and since Sora was especially hurt by it, we were all doing our best to keep him from breaking down at any moment."

"Well, it's not like all hope is lost, right? I mean, you said it yourselves that you came to Remnant so that you could find Kairi and bring her home, right," Blake remembered.

Unfortunately, the cat Faunus's attempt at cheering him up backfired, because it made Roxas remember the conversation his team had the other night, and as a result, he could stop from flinching back a little like someone had just punched him. Yang and Blake both noticed this very easily, and even though they were curious about why he would react that way, something about it also gave them a very bad feeling in their stomachs about it. Just not to the point where they did not ask at all.

"What's the matter," Yang asked.

"…There's something you guys should know about our search for Kairi," Roxas revealed.

From that point on, Roxas was forced to fill someone in on everything that Aqua had told him and the others once again. He would admit that it was a little easier to admit this now, at least compared to when he and the guys had told Sora, but the pill was still really hard for him to swallow regardless of this fact. The only thing that made it harder to tell this story was when he brought up what had happened when he and the others had revealed all of that information to Sora, and how he had taken it afterwards, and judging by the looks on their faces, Yang and Blake were not too likely to take it much better. At least, not until after Roxas finally finished with one last detail.

"…I'm guessing that after he stormed out, he probably went off somewhere to do everything he could to find even the smallest clue that would prove us wrong in thinking that Kairi really was gone. When he couldn't, he just went out somewhere to train, and he then started going between the two different things like that nonstop with little to no rest until you found him passed out in the courtyard," Roxas concluded, sharing his guess on the most likely scenario behind Sora's condition when they found him, thankful that he was able to mention all of that before Yang and Blake had a chance to explode on him for now.

Truth be told, Yang and Blake still felt like they were on the verge of exploding after everything they had just heard, but given how upset Roxas seemed to be, and the emotional overload that came with this whole thing, they just were not entirely sure what to actually say. At the very least, they did understand much better than ever now why Sora was acting the way he did since the end of their late night investigation, but it was still just too hard for them to imagine just what it was like to be going through what he was right now. Not only seeing your first love getting struck down like that, but then finding out that there may still be a chance to save her, only to have the person who told you this turn around later and say that they found out the chances of doing so were a lot less likely than originally believed had to be hard for anyone to handle. Frankly, the girls were more amazed that Sora had held together for as long as he had, and that he had not done something that was even more reckless and dangerous by now.

After taking in everything that she had heard for a few more minutes, Blake finally found the strength to speak again. "I can't imagine what that must be like," she said. "I mean, I've got some idea about what it's like to lose someone you care about in a sense, but I've never experienced anything like what Sora has."

"Yeah," Yang agreed, though she did give Roxas a curious look when she asked her next question. "What I'm wondering though is how you plan on helping him out with this."

"I'd say you'll see if you stick around, but…" Roxas started to say, only for his fellow blonde to interrupt before he could finish.

"Which is why I'm gonna have my little talk with Blake here when Sora wakes up. I get the feeling Sora could benefit from hearing what I have to say to her just as much as she will," Yang concluded.

When Blake was reminded of this, she slowly started edging towards the door, thinking she might be able to escape, only to have her animal instincts betray her again when a little red dot appear on the floor caught her attention, and prompted her to freeze as she followed its path with her eyes. Eventually, she saw the little dot move all the way back over to where Yang's feet, and immediately looked up to see her partner holding her laser pointer from earlier along with a sneaky grin. It was not until she had turned back to where Roxas was that she realized that he had moved further between her and the exit, ensuring that he would block both her and Sora should either of them try to slip out. Not that she was too concerned about that; at the moment, she was more upset with Yang using that same trick from earlier on her again.

"Will you stop that?! It's not funny," Blake scolded her still grinning partner.

"It kind of is, actually, and no, I most likely won't stop if it means that you'll be staying put until you and Grouchy over there hear me out," Yang insisted sounding far more serious than she normally was.

That certainly had Blake's attention, so she just returned to her previous seat as they all waited for Sora to wake up. They ended up waiting for quite a few hours though, but Roxas did not seem to care that much. Considering that this was the first he had seen Sora asleep in one of this room's beds at all since they told him about Yen Sid's discovery, it was easy to understand why Roxas was able to relax a little better as he went over what he was going to say to his friend while also attempting to figure out what Yang was planning to tell both him and Blake.

By the time Sora did finally awaken, the sun was starting to set outside, and Yang had received a few messages from Weiss demanding why she was not in the ballroom helping with the remaining preparations for the dance. She paid them little mind, because the two situations with their overworked and highly emotional friends was much more important right now. Besides, Weiss could handle the dance prep perfectly fine on her own, and if Ventus had stuck around to help her out, then that would most likely mean that she had set the heiress up with the perfect opportunity to ask her Keyblade knight in shining armor to the dance. A basic win-win all around in Yang's mind.

"Where…what happened," Sora groaned as he slowly sat up in his bed.

"Hey there, sleepy-head," Yang greeted, alerting him to her presence, and by extension the presence of Blake and Roxas as well.

"Yang? What're you…" Sora started to ask.

"She and Blake found you passed out in the courtyard and helped bring you back here after they called me," Roxas explained. "And before you even think about getting up, just know I will use a gravity spell to hold you in place if I have to, because we need to talk."

Sora's face fell into a scowl after that, as he huffed and started getting up as he said, "I've heard more than enough from you and the others."

"He didn't say that you and Team SLVR needed to talk, Sora. He just said that the two of you needed to talk," Yang gently insisted. "And by extension, so do we, or more accurately, you should probably hear what I have to say to Blake."

Sora looked to the blonde, wondering if he should listen to her. Considering that Yang looked like she wanted to beat him to death the last few times he had seen her up until now, it would be stranger if Sora was not skeptical about whether or not she would just be talking with him. Then again, she had said that this was also a conversation she was going to be having with Blake, and he doubted that Yang would hurt her partner in the way she likely wanted to hurt him, so Sora just sat back on the bed, and crossed his arms, silently telling her to go on.

Blake on the other hand was a different story, because she doubted that anything Yang had to say to her would be of any help to Sora right now. "Yang, if you're going to tell either of us to stop, then you're wasting your breath, especially in Sora's case. He's got even more of a reason to keep trying to find Kairi than I do to stop Torchwick."

Sora's eyes widened when he heard Blake mention Kairi's name, but they were soon narrowing again after he spun to the only member of his team that was in the room. In response, Roxas instantly raised his hands up in personal defense and quickly said, "They heard you muttering Kairi's name while you were out, and Axel told them everything before I could stop him, which would have been easier if I wasn't already trying to carry you back here on my own. By the way, you need to consider losing some weight."

"Oh really? Axel told them," Sora questioned. He was not so stupid as to fall for that excuse, given that he knew that it was one that he and Ventus also used to avoid trouble more than a few times since coming to Remnant.

"It's not important who told us," Yang interrupted. "What is important is what I have to say to you guys, and it's not a request for either of you to stop. I want you both to slow down."

"We don't have the luxury to slow down," Blake insisted. _'And I really doubt that it would help Sora all that much,'_ she added in her head.

"It's not a luxury; it's a necessity," Yang replied.

"What's necessary is that we stop the bad guys and find Kairi. Nothing else matters," Sora insisted, only to have Roxas grab him by the collar of his shirt and glare at him straight in the eyes.

"You don't get a vote on this! We've been worried sick after you basically disappeared for days. _DAYS_! And when you finally showed up again, you were barely conscious and practically looked like something had thrown you in a meat grinder, so shut your mouth, and listen to what Yang has to say at the very least," Roxas all but ordered, doing his best to make Sora understand that nothing he could say would get him out of this.

Yang and Blake both stared at the boys for a minute, until the former said, "Not quite how I would've put it, but Roxas is right. Before either of you doing anything else, you're gonna have to just sit down and listen to me for a little bit." Seeing how hesitant Blake and Sora both still seemed, Yang felt the need to then add, "I will have Roxas lock every way out of this room with his Keyblade if I have to, but I would rather you guys hear me out without that."

Sora and Blake then shared a small look with each other before they simultaneously sighed in defeat, "Fine."

Yang nodded happily upon seeing that the two were taking the easier choice here, because she did not want to force them into this anymore than she and Roxas already were, and she then began a tale that she had not told very many people until now. "Ruby and I grew up on an island just off the coast of Vale called Patch," she began. "Both of our parents were huntsmen, but while our dad mainly taught at Signal, our mom would take on missions around the kingdom. Her name was Summer Rose, and she was like…Super-Mom. Baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters."

"Yeah, that does sound like the perfect mother for you two, or at the very least for Ruby," Roxas chuckled lightly, and Blake and Sora could not help but smile in agreement. At least until they all realized that Yang was referring to the woman in past tense.

Only Sora was brave enough to ask the question though. "What happened to her?"

"The job. One day she left for a mission and never came back," Yang sighed sadly, earning her sympathetic looks from her three friends. "Dealing with it was tough for everyone. Ruby was really torn up, but I think she was still too young to really understand what was going on, ya know? My dad on the other hand just kind of…shut down."

"Can't say that I blame him," Sora muttered, unaware that Yang had heard him.

"Well, there was actually another reason besides just losing Summer and it wasn't long before I finally found out why. Summer wasn't the first love he'd lost; she was the second, and the first…was my mom," Yang revealed, surprising the three quite a bit.

"Your mom," Roxas repeated. "You mean that…You and Ruby are…"

"Actually half-sisters. Yeah," Yang confirmed.

"You don't really seem too bothered by it," Sora noted it.

"It was hard to believe and deal with it at first, but I was able to get over it after a while, and it didn't really change all that much. At the end of the day, Ruby was still my baby sister, and that was all I needed to know," Yang admitted.

"What about…What about your birth mom," Roxas asked. "Did your dad say anything about her after you found out?"

"No, he wouldn't really tell me all that much," Yang said. "But I did learn that the two of them had been on a team with Summer and Qrow, one of the best teams to ever graduate from Beacon at that, and that she had left me with my dad just after I was born. No one had seen her since."

"Did you at least learn what her name is," Sora asked, hoping that Yang knew that if nothing else.

"Yeah…Her name is Raven."

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that she and Qrow are related," Roxas lightly joked, not knowing how right he was until Yang spoke up again.

"They are. Raven's the older twin sister of Qrow," Yang revealed. "Not that it really got him to tell me very much about her. I think he might have been almost as upset by her leaving as my dad and Summer were."

"Why did she leave you all," Blake then asked.

That drew a sad sigh from Yang as she glanced away from all of them. Clearly they had now stirred up some less pleasant memories for her. "That question…Why," Yang recalled, still soldiering on with her tale despite the sadness it brought her. "I didn't know the answer, but I was determined to find out. It was all I ever thought about for the longest time, and it drove me to ask anybody I could what they knew about her. Then, one day I found something: what I thought was a clue that could lead me to answers, or maybe even my mother herself. It was only natural that I decided to go after it, but I knew that dad probably wouldn't let me, so I waited for him to leave the house, put Ruby in a wagon and headed out. I must've walked for hours. I had cuts and bruises, was totally exhausted, but I wasn't going to let anything stop me. Sure, I wasn't as bad as Sora was when we found him earlier, but given that I was still just a kid at the time, I might as well have been. When we finally got there, I didn't even care that I could barely stand. I had made it, and I was sure that I would find something about my mom. I did find something alright, but it wasn't my mom. The minute I got closer, I saw them…Those burning, red eyes, the skeleton armor, and all those snarling teeth bearing down at me and Ruby like we were a tasty snack."

"The Grimm," Roxas whispered in realization.

Yang just nodded to confirm his guess, and continued from there. "So there we were, a toddler asleep in the back of a wagon and a stupid kid that was too exhausted to even try and scream for help. We might as well have been served on a silver platter, but as luck would have it, our uncle had been close by and showed up just in time. I don't know if he was following us or if he just happened to be passing by at the time, but I didn't care. My stubbornness should've gotten us killed that night had he not been there, and I was just glad that he had shown up when he did."

Hearing Yang's story, the other three could not help but sympathize with her to various extents. If anyone else had gone through that, they probably would have wanted to do anything and everything they could to stay clear of the Grimm, and yet, Yang still chose to be a huntress so that she could fight and kill the monsters that had nearly killed both her and her sister. On the topic of Ruby, the story also explained why Yang was so close and protective of her. Any half decent older sibling would be after they put their younger sister/brother in danger like that, and Yang certainly seemed to regret her actions from back then quite a bit now. Knowing all of this made the three's respect for Yang grow stronger than ever, but it did not seem to do too much in convincing Blake of anything, and from the look on his face, Roxas could tell that Yang's point had not gotten across to Sora either.

"Yang, I'm sorry that happened to you, and I understand what you're trying to tell me," Blake started off, but Yang could tell that her partner was not really getting the reason why she told her all of that even before she had gotten halfway through her statement. "But this is different! I'm not a child! Sora isn't a child, and we aren't just on a search for answers. Neither one of us can just…"

"I TOLD you, I'm not telling either of you to stop," Yang interrupted. "I haven't. Even to this day, I still want to know what happened to my mother, and why she left me, but I will never let that search control me again. Especially not to the extent that Sora's search has started to control him."

"What's THAT supposed to mean," Sora demanded.

"Dude, you do remember what we said about where we found you and the shape you were in when we did, right," Yang questioned, still not facing anyone in the room.

"And that's not even the worst of it," Roxas added on. "The Sora I know, that all of us know wouldn't let himself be turned into someone that gets so obsessed with his mission that he cuts himself off from everyone around him. He knows that his true power comes from all of his friends, and he would remember his promise to never change who he is on the inside."

"We're all going to find the answers we're looking for, you two," Yang said. "But what's the point of finding them if we destroy ourselves and lose everyone that we care about in the process?"

"You just don't understand," Blake nearly shouted. "I'm the only one that can do something about Torchwick!"

Roxas was about to remind her that both her team and his were also doing something about said criminal, when Yang beat him to it. "No, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND," she angrily yelled, finally spinning around to face the room again with her eyes now turned red. "If Roman Torchwick walked through that door, what would you do?"

"I'd fight him," Blake instantly answered.

"You'd lose," Yang corrected, pushing Blake a bit to better emphasize her point.

"I can stop him," Blake pushed back, much more feebly, and even she knew it.

"You can't even stop me," Yang countered as she pushed Blake again, this time hard enough for the cat-girl to fall over on the bed. Despite her tired state, Blake still managed to get back up again, even as Yang slowly closed in on her, making both Blake and the boys think that she was going to start throwing punches now, until Yang surprised them all by wrapping her partner in a tight hug. "I'm not asking you to stop," Yang quietly repeated once again, her eyes changing back to their normal color again. "Just please, get some rest at the very least. Not just for you, but for the people you care about, and the people who care about you."

That silenced any further arguments that Blake might have had, especially since the entire time that Yang was holding her, she could feel how the blonde was trembling out of what she could only assume was a very heavily suppressed need to cry. Seeing how her behavior had placed this much of an effect on Yang, Blake started to feel rather terrible for her choices and actions as of late, and as she thought about it more, she realized that she had been just as bad to others as she had been towards Yang. With all of this now being brought to light, Blake could barely bring herself to meet Yang's gaze when she finally pulled back, and ended up hanging her head in shame. Too bad Blake was the only one who seemed to have come to this realization.

"As nice as it would be to take a break and rest up, I can't afford to do that right now. Not while Kairi's still somewhere out there, lost and waiting for us to find her," Sora insisted.

"Is that why you don't want to slow down, or is it because it's easier for you to keep pushing all of us away and you won't have to face your grief or fears so long as you're doing some kind of work," Roxas questioned.

"What," Sora challenged, but this was not like when Ventus accused him of being afraid to play a board game with the girls, and Roxas knew it.

"Look Sora, I do get what you're going through," Roxas started.

"No you don't," Sora instantly protested.

"Oh really? Think about whom you're talking to for a minute, and then shut up and listen to what I have to say," Roxas ordered.

Sora looked ready to attack Roxas for that one, but he did still take a bit of time to get it together, and had to admit that it probably was a little silly to think Roxas could not understand what he was dealing with. Being his former Nobody did give Roxas a few benefits in regards to him that few others could ever hope to have, so Sora ended up going quiet once again, giving the floor to Roxas.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out in a quick sigh, Roxas began again. "Do you remember what Axel and I told you about our history together with Xion? Namely how she was created and for what purpose?"

"Yeah, she was originally a replica that the first Organization created so that they could have a Keyblade wielder that they could control," Sora recalled, and even now, that detail still surprised Yang and Blake.

"More accurately, they wanted a Keyblade wielder under their control which had all of your powers," Roxas clarified. "Do you also remember what we said about how Xion had been destroyed?"

"The only thing that you ever said about it was that it had happened and as a result, everyone she ever encountered had their memories of her erased," Sora pointed out.

"Well, there's a lot more to the story than that," Roxas admitted. "When Xion learned the truth, she wanted to do everything she could to make things right again, even if it meant her destruction, and while the plan she came up with did work, I still don't agree with it. She found me shortly after I had left the Organization, made me think that she was close to becoming what they had wanted her to be, and then…she…She forced me to fight her to the end. It was not a fight that either of us enjoyed, and in the end, I was the one who dealt the blow that ended her life, even if only for a short time."

That was the last thing that anyone expected to hear. Yes, all three of them knew that Roxas and Xion had fought against each other at one point, and that Xion had technically died, along with what happened after she was gone, but this was the first time any of them were hearing about all the details regarding how it happened. The last thing any of them expected was that Roxas was the one who had done the deed, especially given how close he and Xion were, but thinking of that helped Yang, Sora, and Blake better understand just why the couple was so close now. Not that it helped them figure out what to say to him in order to help him better deal with the sorrow the memory of such an action was no doubt bringing to him.

Roxas did not really seem to care for any comfort, as he proved as he pressed on with his story. "When I realized what I had done, I begged and pleaded for it to not be true, and for Xion to come back, until finally, the only thing that really stuck in my mind was the last thing she had asked me to do. She asked me to free all the hearts she had captured for the Organization's Kingdom Hearts, and while I did set out to do that, it was not for any noble or selfless reason like she had wanted. I didn't care about making things right or what happened to me because of my actions. In my mind at that moment, I truly believed that if I were to free all of those hearts from Kingdom Hearts, then everything would go back to the way it was; that _she_ would come back somehow. Even as it started to become a struggle just to remember Xion's name, I still pressed on, storming into the Organization's world at my full strength and using two Keyblades for the first time ever. It was not until Riku appeared that I finally stopped, and the only reason I wasn't able to continue was because no matter how many times I defeated him, he just kept getting back up and moving into my way."

"Yeah, that sounds like Riku all right. Always stubborn when he thinks that he's doing something that needs to be done," Sora muttered, recalling a few memories of other times when his best friend was like that.

"If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black," Roxas commented in an attempt to lighten the mood at least a little bit before he carried on. "The only reason I finally stopped was because Riku unleashed the full power of the darkness inside of him, and looking back on it, I'm actually kind of glad that he did that. If I had gone through with my crazy plan, there's no doubt in my mind that I would've ended up dead, and without any chance of coming back. You know the rest of the story from there; DiZ and Riku put me into the Virtual Twilight Town, rewrote my memories so that it would be harder for the Organization to find me, and of course, everything else that happened on my first and, at the time, last summer vacation."

"Yeah, and," Sora questioned, no longer really seeing where this was going.

"What you don't know is the full story about what happened when I finally met Naminé during that vacation," Roxas revealed. "From the moment I saw her face, I could feel something inside me that just drew me to her, begging me to learn more about her and get closer. If I had known back then who she was and what our relationship was really like, I probably would've felt a little disgusted with myself. I was practically lusting after my own twin sister, after all."

"Yeah that is kinda gross, dude," Yang cringed along with Blake.

"But even with the draw I felt towards Naminé, deep down inside my heart, as young as it was back then, there was a slight tugging that was telling me that something was wrong. That there was someone else out there. Sure, I couldn't remember that it was Xion, but I still had enough memories to remember how I felt about her, and that made things a lot more difficult than you think when it came to getting to know Naminé. I had to make a choice between this strange girl that had just suddenly appeared and may likely lead me to a path that I wouldn't like, or someone whose face I couldn't even remember despite all the happiness I felt in my heart just knowing somehow that she was out there."

"And in the end, choosing the latter helped you get Xion back," Sora finished for him. "How's that any different from my situation? I'm telling you that Kairi's out there, and…"

"Sora, I'm telling you this because I know for a fact that you're not drowning yourself in this search just so you can find Kairi anymore. You're doing it so that you don't have to stop and think about how your feelings for Ruby are growing beyond the boundaries of friendship," Roxas interrupted, surprising him a little.

"I…I don't know what you're talking about," Sora stuttered in an attempt to brush off the accusation.

"You can't fool anyone now, Sora. Especially since we all know about the fact that you and Ruby kissed," Roxas told him.

Sora was surprised that the all knew about that, but he did not let that stop him from trying to get out of this. "Ruby and I are just friends! That moment shouldn't have happened! I shouldn't have let it happen!"

"Do you really believe that for even a fraction of a second," Roxas challenged. "Can you look me in the eye, and honestly tell me that in all your heart, you really believe that you don't feel something special for Ruby?"

"I…I…" Sora stuttered, unsure of what to say now, until ultimately, he finally snapped. "I don't know, okay?! I don't know what I believe now! In my heart or in any other part of me!"

"Sora," Blake started to say, thinking that he needed someone to help comfort him, until Yang stopped her with one arm and a shake of her head. Seeing that look in her eye, Blake quickly realized that Yang had already figured out that Sora needed to vent and let this all out, and it was best if they let him.

"I came here on a mission to find Kairi, and I fully expected to make some new friends along the way, but I…I never once thought that…that I could end up meeting someone that makes me feel the way that Ruby does! Someone who actually makes me question if my feelings for Kairi are still as strong as they were before, or if they were even what I had thought they were in the first place! I want to say that I've tried to follow my heart on this, but for the first time ever, I don't know where my heart is trying to lead me, or what it's trying to say! I don't want to just give up and forget about Kairi, but at the same time, I don't want to pretend that what I feel for Ruby isn't there. I just don't know what to do!"

Now that the dam had finally burst, Sora could no longer stop his tears from pouring out in a virtual waterfall, and no one had any intention of faulting him for it. Heaven knows the poor guy needed it and deserved it more than anyone else after all that he had been through, and all that he had learned. That did not mean that they were going to just sit back and watch as he cried his heart out, as Yang soon proved when she walked over and gave Sora a tight hug to show that she at least was willing to be there for him. Blake soon followed after that, going so far as to pat him on the head in an effort to help with the process, and Roxas probably would have joined in too were it not for the fact that the girls had blocked all the openings he could use to join in on the group hug without making it awkward. He did still find a way to give his condolences to Sora by at least patting his back in a comforting manner.

When Sora finally calmed down, he silently nodded to each of his friends in thanks for their support and that seemed to be Roxas's cue to start speaking again. "Look Sora, I know that we already said this before, but none of us were lying when we said we don't want to give up on Kairi, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be prepared for the worst. It's been nearly a year since we came to Remnant, and we haven't found even the smallest hint of her being here, so maybe it's time to consider the possibility that it may be best for you to move on."

"But I can't just forget about her, Roxas," Sora insisted.

"I'm not telling or asking you to," Roxas interrupted. "No one's asking you to forget about her. There's a difference between forgetting about someone and moving on from them. You can keep going after Kairi all you want, but I honestly think that she would rather you were happy with someone else than miserable because you lost everyone around you just to find her again, assuming there's anything left to find. Last I checked, your happiness was the one thing that Kairi wanted more than anything else."

That seemed to get Sora thinking a little more, but this time, Roxas could tell his words had the impact that was desired, and he took that as his cue to leave. Yang also got up as well and made to follow him, but not before sparing her two friends a few more words. "For now, you two just rest up. If you feel like coming out tomorrow Blake, I'll be sure to save you a dance, and Sora, if you decide to come out, I guarantee that it will make the night extra special for a certain someone," Yang promised the two with a sly wink to them both.

Having said all of her piece, Yang finally exited the room, leaving Sora and Blake on their own. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, until Blake finally just sighed a bit and made to say something, only for Sora to speak up first. "I've been a real jerk," he muttered.

"Considering the way I've been acting lately, I probably don't have much room to criticize, even if you are right," Blake attempted to lightly joke.

Sora appreciated the effort, but he still turned to her and said, "Blake, I'm sorry for the other night. I just…"

"It's okay. You don't need to explain, but apology accepted, all the same." Blake insisted. She then glanced about, as she finally realized just how tired she really was, and asked, "Do you mind if I crash here for a little bit? I don't think I'm going to be able to make it back to my own room without collapsing in the hallway."

"Not if you don't mind if I go to get a quick shower before crashing as well. I'm still feeling pretty nasty from all that training I was doing earlier," Sora said in return with a small smile that was very close to his usual one. Close, but not quite there yet.

Blake just giggled shortly before she nodded and then settled into Lea's bed, pulling the covers over her as she quickly fell into a deep slumber. The sounds of the shower going did not even disturb her in the least, nor did the few noises that Sora made when he came back into the room and climbed into his own bed as he passed out as well. She and her friend both were just too tired to really let anything stop them from doing anything other than going to slumber land.

* * *

_'I don't know why I'm even surprised,'_ Weiss grumbled in her head that evening as she finally made her way back to the dorms after a long day of setting things up for the dance with a huff. _'I mean, I know Yang was probably trying to convince Blake to change her mind, but did it really need to take so long for her to do it? I'm not sure if I even have time to so much as find Neptune or Ven so I can ask one of them to the dance.'_

Her last thought made Weiss pause in her angry stomping, as it once again reminded her of the dilemma she was currently facing. She was well aware that everyone seemed to think that she and Ventus were close, and she could not blame them. She had opened up to him in ways that she had not with anyone else. Not even her own sister was privy to some of the things she and Ventus talked about. On the other hand, Neptune was really nice too, but he was also charming, handsome, and seemed to know exactly how to treat a lady. Not to say that Ventus did not have those qualities too; Neptune just showed them a little more. Add in the fact that he seemed genuinely interested in her as something more than friends, and Weiss was just not sure which of the two boys she should choose to go with. She had settled on asking Neptune earlier on, but after the conversation with Jaune and the others a few days ago, she just was not sure, especially if there was a chance that she could upset Ventus by asking someone else.

Weiss was so caught up in her thoughts that she did not even realize someone was approaching her until the person was right next to her. If she had Myrtenastor on her, she probably would have drawn it out of reflex in her surprise, but she quickly relaxed at least a little bit when she saw who it was. A little, but not entirely. "What do you want, Jaune," Weiss tiredly asked, thinking that he had come to ask her out again despite their last talk.

She was left surprised once again when he answered, but this time in a more pleasant manner. "I just wanted to say thanks for what you and the others said the other day," Jaune said. "You know, when you gave me that little wake-up call about Pyrrha. It really helped a lot."

"Oh, well you're welcome," Weiss just barely managed to say even in her stunned state. Thankfully she was able to get back to normal again and asked, "So does that mean you and Pyrrha are going to the dance together?"

"Yeah," Jaune confirmed with a wide, genuine smile that Weiss had seen only a few times in the past. It faded a little though when he then added, "Also, I wanted to apologize if any of my attempts to ask you out in the past came off as weird, or uncomfortable, or…"

"Jaune, I've had guys asking me out in much stranger ways than anything you did for my entire life, and most of them were only interested in me because of my family name. Still, I suppose I can forgive you for your rather annoying persistence," Weiss assured him.

Despite the way Weiss said it, Jaune was still very relieved to receive that forgiveness from Weiss, and said, "Okay, great. So I guess I'll see you at the dance tomorrow with whatever guy is lucky enough to be your date." Just when he was about to leave though, he saw Weiss's face fall a little, and being the nice guy that he is, he could not help but ask, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing you should really concern yourself with," Weiss tried to play off, but she must not have sounded or looked very convincing, because Jaune remained rooted where he was in front of her. "I guess…I'm having a difficult time deciding on who my date should be now. Mainly because my choice is between two good friends," Weiss admitted.

"Ventus and Neptune, right," Jaune guessed, trying his best to not sound like he was making a statement instead of asking a question.

"…Yes," Weiss admitted after a brief pause.

Jaune seemed to understand her dilemma pretty quickly, and considering that he felt like he owed Weiss and the others for giving him a wake-up call to Pyrrha's feelings, it was no surprise that he decided to lend Weiss a hand on this matter. "Weiss, if someone were to ask you which of these guys you really like, what's the first answer you would give? And I mean the honest answer," Jaune asked.

Weiss was not sure what Jaune was going for in this, but she was still going to do her best to humor him. "I…I'm not sure," she replied. "I mean, they're both great in their own ways and…"

"Weiss, just go with the one that feels most honest," Jaune told her. "I've heard that you can't get it wrong if it's the truth."

"Whoever told you that must be pretty smart then," Weiss complimented with a smile. She then took a minute to breathe and relax herself, and finally said, "I think…I know who I'm going to ask now."

"That was quick. Are you going to tell me," Jaune asked.

"You'll just have to wait and see at the dance tomorrow," Weiss teased as she turned on her heel and headed off again.

If it had been before he had realized his feelings for Pyrrha, Jaune would have been put out by that answer, but this time he just shrugged it off and let it be. After all, even if it was not the one he was expecting, he had already gotten his girl, and he could not have been happier about that. Sure, it still hurt a little that his crush had picked someone else instead of him, but then again, that was part of the reason why they were called crushes. Sometimes, you end up getting crushed, and Jaune was okay with it in this case. It certainly showed when he smiled after hearing Weiss call out to a certain someone just before he was out of earshot.

"Oh, Ven!"

"Hey, Weiss. What's up," Ventus greeted.

"I was actually just looking for you," Weiss said. "I guess you're going stargazing or something, right?"

"No, I'm turning in early tonight. Want to be rested up for the dance tomorrow. Plus, Roxas just told me and Lea that he finally got Sora to see sense with a little help from Yang, so I wanted to see for myself if it was true," Ventus admitted.

"I see," Weiss nodded, now understanding a little better why Yang had disappeared for so long. It would make sense that she would be gone for the rest of the day if she was talking to both Blake and Sora.

"So, why were you looking for me," Ventus asked.

Despite the comfort she felt earlier at seeing Ven, Weiss could not help suddenly being overcome with nervousness. Thoughts that Ventus might already have a date or say no when she asked while laughing in her face quickly filled her head, but Weiss Schnee was not about to do something that made her look like a fool in front of Ventus. Besides, the fact that she was this nervous about asking Ventus must have counted as some form of proof to how much she really liked him, right?

"Okay…" Weiss muttered to herself before doing her best to look Ventus in the eye, even if she was lightly scraping the ground with the tip of her shoe out of nervous habit. "I know that this might be a little unorthodox, but I wanted to ask if…well, if you would accompany me to the dance tomorrow? As my date, that is."

Now it was Ven's turn to be surprised, and he could not help but stutter as he checked to see if he heard that right. "You…You want to…go to the dance…with me? Like as…as my date?"

Weiss's nerves seemed to finally overtake her, because she lost all ability to speak right then from the anticipation of what Ven's answer would be. She was so nervous that it came as a surprise to her that she had managed to hear his question at all, but thankfully, she did find enough courage to finally give him a small nod. Her face felt like it had turned as red as Ruby's cloak, but she still managed to get out that silent reply.

Ventus was not much better in keeping a blush off his face, but it also came with a small smile and his reply. "Yeah, sure," Ventus agreed. He then cleared his throat as he playfully added, "It would be my utmost pleasure, milady."

His second statement and attempt at sounding all proper made Weiss giggle a little, while on the inside, she was partying like an excited kid in a candy store. As she worked out the other details for their date, like whether they would meet at the dance itself or at one of their dorm rooms, Weiss's smile grew a little bit more as she mentally thanked Jaune for his earlier advice. Not that she would ever admit it to anyone. She had a reputation to think of, you know.

* * *

The following evening, everyone had turned out for the dance, and no one could deny the great work that Weiss and Yang had put in to making the ballroom perfect for such an extravagant event. From the decorations to the music, even to the food selections and flower arrangements that were resting in the center on the tables surrounding the edge of the dance floor, everyone would agree that they had never seen a more amazing setup for a school dance. It was not just the location that looked good though, as the people attending all looked very impressive, with the guys all dressed in their best suits, be it a more formal version of their school uniform or just something that they got from a store in Vale, and the girls all clad in very nice dresses that seemed to flow with their every move. Undoubtedly, this would be a night that many would remember for quite some time just because of the décor and overall appearances of everyone in attendance.

Speaking of attendance, Yang was currently manning a podium at the door to make sure that no one got in that was not on her list. That list included the entire staff and student body of Beacon, along with the exchange students, General Ironwood, and of course the otherworldly guests Aqua, Xion, and Aqua's boyfriend, Terra. So far no one that should not be here had so much as shown up, but Yang was much more eager for when her friends showed up so that she could see how they all looked all dressed up. Team JNPR had already arrived, with Ren and Jaune wearing the basic dress-version of their regular uniforms, while Pyrrha was sporting a very eye-catching, elegant red dress that left her back exposed, and Nora a pink strapless number with a white skirt.

At that moment, a familiar pair of arms came around Yang's waist from behind, and she could not help but smirk over her shoulder to their owner. "Hoping to earn a few favors for something, Mister Firebrand," Yang playfully questioned.

"Not unless pulling you away from a boring job for a dance counts," Lea joked in return, making Yang turn to face him.

Like many of the other guys, Lea was sporting the formal version of the Beacon uniform, but he had added his own personal touch by discarding the tie completely, and left his top buttons undone, while the sleeves of his jacket seemed to have the added detail of flames to it. His hair was a bit more slicked back than usual, but otherwise retained its usual spikiness. It may not have seemed like much, but to Yang, it was definitely impressive.

"Well as tempting as it is to accept that offer from you, handsome, I'm afraid that you're gonna have to wait. My first dance is actually taken," Yang finally answered.

That confused Lea a bit, as he wondered how her first dance could be spoken for by someone other than him, since he was Yang's date, but he was still able to roll with it regardless. Though that was mainly because of who walked in at just that moment. "Well, look who it is! The best contestants for cutest couple," Lea teased seeing his two best friends.

Turning to face the people Lea was speaking to, Yang had to restrain herself from gushing like crazy, but still ended up saying, "Oh my gosh! You two do look like that!"

Standing before their fiery friends, Roxas and Xion could not help but blush a little at the praise, though the latter ended up brushing her hair back in a shy way as she drew a little closer to her date, almost as though she figured Roxas would be able to hide her away from all the compliments, teasing or otherwise. Roxas's suit was much better done up than Lea's, and saw him sporting a tie that matched the color of Xion's dress. Said dress was a silvery-blue color, and had a pair of relatively thin straps, but not to the point where they were completely unnoticeable. The skirt of her dress came down to a short distance past her knees, which were clad in dark colored stockings, while her feet sported a pair of dark grey heels. The only other thing of note was the white corsage she wore on her wrist, doubtlessly given to her by Roxas. In short, while beautiful, Xion's outfit gave her a very innocent kind of look that perfectly agreed with her.

"Will you two please stop saying that," Roxas begged.

"Not so long as you two keep being cute," Yang refused.

"Come on, guys. You're going make me blush," Xion whined, apparently not knowing that she already was.

The two finally backed off, allowing Lea to get serious and say, "Seriously, you two look really great. I wouldn't be saying that you're likely to be the couple everyone else is jealous of if I didn't mean it."

"I don't know. I think I know at least one pair that might give them some competition," Yang remarked as she nodded her head in the direction of the dance floor, making the three best friends turn their attention to Jaune and Pyrrha, who were performing much better than most of them were expecting.

At the sound of the door opening up again, Roxas turned and saw a pair that made him say, "Well, here's another bit of competition for you."

Confused by what he was talking about, the others all turned back to see Ventus coming in with Weiss on his arm, and they were left quite impressed. While his coat and pants were the standard set up that most of the other guys from Beacon were wearing, Ven had elected to go with a dress shirt that was the same color as his Wayfinder, along with a silver tie that he had pinned his usual badge onto for extra character. Weiss looked just as elegant and lovely as ever in her white, sleeveless dress that had cutouts on both sides of her waist, and a translucent mesh at the yoke, while her usual heels were replaced with white pumps, but there was a certain extra touch in there that was doubtlessly coming from the way she was smiling right now.

"Whoa-ho! Ladies and gentlemen, the princess and her prince, or maybe that should be knight in shining armor. I'm not entirely sure," Lea praised, half-honest and half-teasing.

"No kidding. You guys look like you could be royalty," Yang praised.

"Thank you," Weiss happily nodded, not the least bit bothered by any bit of the teasing that may have been mixed in with the compliments. She then turned it around and said, "And you all look quite lovely as well."

"Thanks Ice Queen," Yang grinned with a thumbs-up, earning her an eye-roll from Weiss. Clearly the heiress was too happy with her date to retort to the nickname like she usually would.

Just as Ventus was about to give a compliment of his own, someone suddenly said, "Say cheese!" At camera shutter going off came soon after, and Ven could not help but blush when he turned to the blue haired perpetrator behind the camera. "Oh, you all look so great! Especially you and your date, Ven."

"Aqua," Ventus exclaimed, both annoyed and a little angry. "You promised you wouldn't do that!"

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry! But you all just looked so good that I couldn't resist," Aqua playfully whined, clearly enjoying herself. Her teasing smile only grew a bit more as she added, "Especially you and _Weiss_~. Oh, you two are just so adorable! Let me get one more!"

"Hey, no, no, NO! No more pictures! You always make me look bad whenever you take my picture," Ventus protested as he scrambled to try and take Aqua's Gummiphone from her to prevent her from taking anymore pictures, much to everyone's amusement, including Weiss's. "Guys, this isn't funny! Weiss, help me out, here!"

"Actually, I wouldn't mind if she took just one or two more," Weiss admitted, much to everyone's surprise. "That is, as long as she gives me a few copies later."

Aqua smiled in approval as she whispered to Ventus, "You'd better make sure you treat her right, because she is definitely a keeper for you."

"Please, stop it," Ventus whined, growing more embarrassed by the second. The only comfort he received was when Weiss wrapped her arms around one of his again, and posed with him for the next few pictures that Aqua made. The bluenette would likely have continued to make pictures of the pair all night if someone had not come to their rescue before she started getting too crazy with them.

"Just remember to keep it at one or two, maybe three at the most, dear. They're never going to be able to enjoy the dance if they have to spend all their time posing for you," a very masculine voice advised Aqua, making her fake annoyance with a roll of her eyes.

"Terra," Ventus immediately brightened up as he went to over to greet his older brother figure.

"Yo Terra! It's been ages, man," Lea greeted as he high-fived the older Keyblade wielder.

"Great to see you guys, too," Terra smiled in return while giving Ven his usual head-rub. He then turned to the girls who were present and said, "So I take it from that exchange just now you two are Yang and Weiss of Team RWBY, right?"

"You are correct, sir," Weiss confirmed with a nod. "And I suppose you're Ven's friend Terra, right? He's told us a lot about you."

"He has," Yang asked, not remembering hearing all that much about the guy aside from what their friends had told them in their history.

"More like Ven's told Weiss a lot about him," Lea whispered.

"Either way you'd guess right. Terra Viribus, at your service. It's nice to meet you both at last," Terra stated.

"And it's also nice to know that _you_ do actually own a nice set of clothes," Ventus teased, taking his own chance at ribbing someone with pride.

While the two boys just goofed around, the others all took some time to take in Aqua and Terra's appearance. Terra's outfit was nearly all black, save for his dark grey shirt, and the gold sash around his waist, which was fastened by his gold badge, and could be most closely compared to a traditional, men's kimono, while Aqua appeared to have gone almost all out on her attire. She was clad in a beautiful blue dress that seemed to compliment both her eyes and hair, and went all the way down to her ankles. The dress left her shoulders bare, and had a long slit running up the sides of her legs, at least to her mid-thighs, and seemed to shimmer like stars under the lights of the ballroom. On her feet, she wore a pair of light blue slippers that seemed reminiscent of Cinderella's glass slippers, and a pair of long, white gloves adorned her hands, reaching all the way up to just past her elbows. In short, if Weiss was the princess of this dance right now, then Aqua was most definitely the queen.

After Terra and Ven had finished playing around and Aqua had gotten enough pictures of everyone here and their dates, the three pairs all set out to join the other students and guests either on the dance floor or on the side for polite conversation and refreshments. They had no idea that leaving when they did would mean that they would miss the moment when Ruby finally arrived, or how Yang finally lost all control of herself at the sight of her sister. Not that Lea could blame her; given just how well Ruby seemed to have cleaned up.

"Oh, you look beautiful," Yang gushed as her sister stumbled through the door.

"I'll say. Lookin' good, Little Red," Lea appraised as well.

Ruby was not going to say no to their compliments, as she would admit that she did in fact like the way she looked right now. She still had some reservations about coming to the dance, but when Yang had insisted that she would have a much better time going to it than she would moping in her room, Ruby ended up caving and letting both her sister and Weiss help her dress up for this event. So here she was, attending the dance and all decked out in a short, red, sleeveless dress with a thick black sash around her waist and black trim around the dress's bottom of the skirt, translucent mesh similar to the one Weiss wore with her dress, black stockings, and black pumps. A faint hint of make-up had also been applied to her face thanks to a little help from Weiss, enhancing her features just a smidge more than usual, while bringing out her silver eyes much more than usual, and while Ruby would not deny that she looked pretty, she still had one complaint about her current attire that she just could not leave unspoken.

"Can we have a serious talk about how the heck Weiss fights in these things," Ruby questioned as she gestured to her current footwear, only to stumble a little as she tried to maintain her balance in her shoes, much to Yang and Lea's amusement.

"I think it might have something to do with a little thing called practice, and you know, the fact that Weiss always wears some variety of heels," Lea reminded the young huntress-in-training.

Ruby just rolled her eyes at the freakishly tall boy, and then glanced about the room in an effort to locate the rest of their friends. When she did not see two in particular, Ruby looked back to Lea and Yang, and asked, "So, are they…?"

"Not yet, but Blake will definitely be here soon," Yang promised. "And so will Sora."

Ruby just nodded in response before making her way further inside, but after watching her stumble and nearly fall over a few more times, Lea finally excused himself from Yang so that he could lend her a hand. Yang was left on her own for the moment after that, and could not stop from counting the seconds until the two she and her sister just talked about had finally arrived. Thankfully, she did not have time to worry for too long, as the doors opened up again, and a familiar voice said, "Excuse me, ma'am, but I believe you promised me a dance."

Even before she looked up, Yang was smiling widely, and that smile grew just a smidge more at the sight of Blake coming in on Sun's arm. The monkey-boy had in fact gone with an outfit that was not too different from his usual one, save for the buttoned up black shirt and the tie he was struggling with, but Blake had definitely gone through quite the radical change. Her attire had been switched out for a short, purple, asymmetrical halter neck dress that was split up the right side and had a black collar, with a black mesh that covered her shoulders and back, and a black belt fastened around her waist. Topping off the outfit with her black pumps, Blake had even gone so far as to replace her usual black bow with a teal one, and from the look of things, the girl had even traded out the bags that had previously been under her eyes for a beautiful violet eye-shadow.

Sun did not seem too bothered by having to pass his date off to Yang for that first dance, and everyone was left to enjoy the show of the two girls dancing together for the duration of one song. The partners put on quite the spectacle indeed with the way they twirled and spun about in near perfect sync, almost to the point where you would think that they had practiced this dance for weeks on end just so they could give this little show to everyone. After one last twirl, the girls curtsied to one another, and Yang was handing Blake off to Sun, allowing the two Faunus to begin enjoying a few dances of their own.

Joining up with the rest of her teammates, Yang shared in their smiles as they all watched Blake happily dancing with her date to the point where she actually let out a joyful laugh at one point before shooting a smile in their direction as well. Seeing Blake finally relax and be happy certainly proved to be a great relief for the rest of Team RWBY, and it also brought smiles to the faces of the Keyblade wielders as well, including Terra, who had only just seen Blake when she was dancing with Yang. It seemed to serve as a perfect reminder of how even the most serious and focused of people can just relax and have fun for a moment.

"Told you she would come," Yang reminded her friends.

"And I would say that's at least one mission accomplished," Weiss nodded, glancing between Ruby and the door as her way of silently communicating what the other mission was.

"Don't worry. He'll be here. I'm sure of it," Roxas promised everyone. "Until then though, I believe I owe the loveliest lady in the room a dance."

"Oh Roxas," Xion giggled, but still accepted his hand as he led her to the dance floor.

While the rest of her friends all took that as their signal to move off and begin having their own fun at the dance, Ruby remained right where she was, not really feeling up to enjoying the festivities before her, even if she was wearing more comfortable shoes, and instead slowly started making her way over to the punch bowl. Had she stayed where she was or continued watching the ballroom's entrance, she probably would have noticed when Mercury and Emerald finally arrived, and one final guest shortly after them. A guest that Yang was much happier to see showing up than she would have thought she would be before the events of yesterday.

"Glad to see you made it," Yang greeted with a smile.

"Yeah, sorry if I'm a little late, but it took me a while to find a good suit for this," Sora confessed while sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. Instead of his usual attire, Sora was currently wearing a red dress shirt with a black tie, along with a very nice suit with gold lining, and dark grey buttons. He had even switched out his normal sneakers for a nice pair of dark brown dress shoes, but beyond that, the only other change that Sora had made to his usual appearance was in the fact that he was no longer wearing his usual necklace. Everything else about him remained exactly the same, but Yang was happy to say that he had regained some of his usual color, and that the bags under his eyes were completely gone now. Not that she was going to stop herself from critiquing some part of his current appearance.

"I'm a little surprised you didn't try and do something about your hair. I mean, even Sun has gone the extra mile to fix up his hair for this, and so have most of your other friends," Yang informed him.

"You're not exactly one to talk, you know," Sora countered with a wave of his hand to indicate Yang's own long, blonde locks. "Besides, last time I tried so much as combing my hair, I had to go to the emergency room to get the brushes removed."

Yang burst out laughing after she heard that, thinking that Sora was joking, but she quickly stopped when she realized that he was not laughing as well. "Wait, are you serious," she asked.

"That is not something anyone would joke about, and honestly, I'd rather not talk about it," Sora stated, making sure that his tone he would not hear any argument on the matter. His expression softened up into a look of apology soon enough though, and he then looked to Yang and started to say, "Listen Yang, about the other night, I just…I wanted to say…"

"Hey, go make things right with my sister, and we'll call it even," Yang gently interrupted, her smile not faltering at all. She then decided to tack on one little warning though, and added, "But just remember, if you ever make her even a little sad again…"

"I know, I know, you're gonna make sure no one finds my body or something, right," Sora guessed.

"Oh, trust me, that'll only happen if there's even a body left to find, considering that you'll have to deal with me, Uncle Qrow, and our dad," Yang promised. As much as she enjoyed watching Sora going pale with fear for the retribution that her family would unleash if he upset Ruby again, Yang was still able to put her fun aside so that she could lend one last helping hand on this matter, and then went back to her gentle, encouraging tone as she added, "She's most likely over by the punch bowl, by now."

"Thanks," Sora meekly nodded as he made his way past Yang and over to the location she said that Ruby could be found at.

In a full disclosure of honesty, Sora was really nervous about coming out to this dance, but he knew that he had to make things right with all of his friends, especially in the case of Ruby, and this was the best time and place to do that in his mind. Even knowing that, Sora's stomach still felt a little uneasy at the idea of finally talking to Ruby again after everything that had happened the last time they had properly interacted with one another, and the various different images that fluttered into his head about how Ruby might look in a dress did little in helping to ease his nervousness. If anything, it just seemed to make his legs turn to jelly. When he finally spotted Ruby, that jelly-legged feeling came about once again, but this time, he barely took notice.

There she was, just standing by the punch bowl, all by herself, and even with the neutral, not-quite-happy look on her face, Sora thought that she looked very beautiful. Then again, the fact that she was not smiling was the only thing keeping her from being the most radiant and amazing Ruby Rose he cared so much about and Sora was determined to bring her back out of her shell again. That determination served to drive him forward, even with his legs shaking more and more as he came closer and closer, until finally, he was standing right before Ruby. His voice had caught in his throat a little now that he had a closer look at just how pretty the young girl was right now, and he could not help but question how it was possible that he could be this nervous about talking to Ruby after fearlessly facing off with any of the monsters and villains he had encountered in the past, but Sora was not about to stop after coming this far. So, he took a deep breath to better calm his nerves before he said or did anything stupid, and then uttered as many words as he could in greeting to his friend that he was beginning to realize really did mean so much more to him than that.

"Uh…H-hey, Ruby," Sora greeted as best as he could.

Ruby jumped a little at the sound of his voice, and instantly spun around as she quickly set her cup of punch down on the table next to her. "Sora! Hey! Hi," Ruby rapidly greeted, just nervous as he was. "You're…You're here."

"Yeah, well it's been a pretty long time since I was able to go to a school dance," Sora tried to play off, hoping to ease both of their nerves a little more. It must have worked a little bit in his case, because it brought a more natural smile to his face as he quickly looked Ruby over again and said, "You look…You look really beautiful, Ruby."

"Oh, thanks," Ruby bashfully replied as she tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. "You look pretty handsome yourself," she then added before her eyes noticed something amiss with Sora's appearance. "But, where's your necklace? I thought you always wore it no matter what."

"Uh…I thought it would look a little silly if I tried to wear it with this suit," Sora shrugged like it was no big deal. His answer ended up drawing a knowing smile onto Ruby's face though, much to his confusion. "What?"

"You have it somewhere on you, don't you," Ruby guessed, not even trying to hide that it was not a question.

Sora did not even bother attempting to deny the accusation, and patted his right jacket pocket as he said, "Yeah. Tucked it away right here. Like I said before, it's pretty much a part of me, so it would be weird if I went anywhere without it." Much to his surprise, after he had finished speaking, Ruby suddenly reached into the indicated pocket so that she could pull out the crown necklace that they were talking about. "Ruby, what're you doing?"

"Lean down a little," Ruby requested, ignoring his question for the moment. Sora just shrugged and complied with the request, leaning forward a bit so that Ruby could reach up and place the chain of his signature necklace back around his neck where it belonged. When she saw the pendant glisten in the light, Ruby finally moved back a little with a smile and said, "There. Now that's much better."

Sora could not help but smile a little more, seeing that something so simple had given Ruby a little more happiness. Still, it was not at the point where it was Ruby's full-fledged happy smile, and Sora was not planning on stopping until he got that back. Having her so close certainly helped remind him of what he needed to do to make that happen, along with the added touch of seeing how her silver eyes had started to sparkle in the way that they did when she was especially happy again, and Sora decided that there was no better time to dive in than now.

"Ruby, about the other night…" he started to say only to have the girl interrupted him before he could continue.

"You don't need to explain, Sora," Ruby assured him, trying to sound brave, but her eyes told a very different story. "I understand if you just see me as a good friend. I mean, sure it was a heat of the moment thing, but…"

"No, Ruby, it wasn't just something that happened in the heat of the moment, and I do need to explain," Sora insisted before she could talk herself down any further. "Look, there's a lot of baggage when it comes to me, and it affects a lot of my friends in ways that I wish it didn't. When we…When we kissed, I was in a pretty tough spot, one that had my head and my heart running all over the place so much that I reacted in a way that I shouldn't have. But if there's one thing that I know for certain, it's that…that I'm glad that my first kiss was with someone special like you."

"Your first…I'm your first kiss," Ruby gasped, having not known that before. When Sora nodded, Ruby felt her face heat up a little more as she could only add, "Wow."

"Yeah," Sora agreed, but he was not going to leave it there, because he still had more to say to her. "I promise that I will explain everything. About why I had reacted the way I did, and why I've been such a jerk ever since, but for right now, all I care about is making sure that you know just how much I care about you, because to be honest, I really like you a lot."

"Really," Ruby whispered, wondering if she was just dreaming at this point.

"Really-really," Sora confirmed with a playful grin, earning him a cute laugh from Ruby. "You're kind, selfless, brave, fun, and just all-around amazing in so many different ways that I think someone would have to be crazy or just evil to not like you. Honestly, after how I've been acting towards you, I can't help but wonder if I even deserve you as a friend at the very least."

"Sora, don't say that," Ruby protested. "I was never really upset with you. Sure, it hurt a lot seeing you try so hard to distance yourself from me, and when you got mad that time, but I never once stopped thinking of you as my friend." Her face then turned a little red as she decided that there was not likely to be a better time to come forward with her true feelings, and said, "If we're both being honest though, I…I really like you, and I kind of wish we could be a little more than just friends."

Hearing her admit that certainly surprised Sora and the bashful look on Ruby's face coupled with her blush served as more than enough proof of how truthful she was being when she said that. Still, he felt that he had to be absolutely sure. "You really mean that," he asked.

"Yeah, I do," Ruby confessed. "I understand if you don't feel the same…"

Ruby was stopped short when she felt Sora gently place his hand on her cheek so that he could move her gaze to meet his again, and seeing that shine of happiness in her eyes had grown a little more gave him the courage to say, "Haven't you been paying attention? I did say that I care about you a lot, and I didn't mean as just a friend, either."

Yep, that was Ruby's heart skipping a beat just now. At least she thinks it was just one beat that was skipped, but whether or not it was more did not matter. The way that Sora was looking at her with that sweet, caring smile and those brilliant blue eyes told her that she had not imagined him saying that, and he really meant it too. If her heart wanted to continue fluttering like it had wings that were going to carry it out of her body at any second, Ruby did not care. She was just too happy to have heard that from Sora. Now she only had one question. "So, what now," she asked.

"I think that depends on two things," Sora replied. "First off, do you forgive me for what I did?"

"Of course," Ruby asserted once more. "And second?"

His answer was to hold one hand out to her and ask, "Would you like to dance?"

Now Ruby was getting nervous again, as she slowly admitted, "Oh, well I would, but…I'm not really much of a fancy, pansy…dance-y girl."

Sora only looked at Ruby for a minute, not judging her, but rather like he was trying to figure something out, until he just came out and asked, "Do you…not know how to dance?"

"…Not really, no," Ruby nervously admitted. "Is that weird?"

That one made Sora chuckle a little before he reminded her, "Ruby, you're talking to a guy that's friends with robots, multiple different animals, a computer program, an honest-to-god fairy, pirates, soldiers, several different princesses, and Kingdom Hearts knows what else. What's weird for some is very much normal for me." His words did the trick in cheering Ruby up, given how she was giggling in response to his statement, and he then said, "I could show you, if you want."

"Are you sure," Ruby asked.

Sora just nodded as he held his hand out to her again, and said, "Only if you want to."

Ruby was still a little hesitant, but looking in Sora's eyes seemed to give her a sense of calm even in the sea of nerves and anticipation that she was swimming in right now, so it was really no surprise when she slowly placed her hand in his, and let him guide her to the dance floor at last. She stumbled a few times along the way, cursing her heels more than once, but Sora managed to keep her steady the entire time, and soon enough, they were out on the floor with the other dancers, with Ruby placing her other hand on Sora's shoulder, and Sora placing his free hand at her waist.

"I'm counting on you to help make sure I don't twist my ankle because of these stupid lady stilts," Ruby informed Sora.

"Don't worry. I've got you, Ruby," Sora promised, and with that, he began leading them in a simple waltz.

While they started off by simply swaying to and fro on the dance floor, the pair slowly began to do a little bit more than that. They would spin about, turn, and Sora even went so far as to carefully dip Ruby down for the briefest of moments, much to her enjoyment. As time went on, Ruby started to barely even notice any stumbles she might have made because of her heels, and instead, just relaxed and enjoyed being so close to Sora. The way his smile shone in the lights of the room and how his eyes twinkled as they remained on hers just made all of her troubles melt away to the point where she even started to get brave enough to try and get creative with a few dance moves of her own as Sora spun her outwards from him. It must have worked pretty well, because a number of people that had stopped to watch the two clapped immediately afterwards, much to her enjoyment.

Sora was also having a pretty good time with this, not just because the whole dance was fun, but also because he felt truly relaxed for the first time in days. Having spent so much time apart from Ruby really helped him to realize just how much of an effect that the silver-eyed girl had on him ever since they first met so many months ago, and Sora was starting to wish he had never tried to put a barrier between them in the first place. Then again, if he had not, who was to say that he would have realized just how deeply his feelings for Ruby went by now if ever. Holding her close like this as they twirled about on the dance floor gave Sora a sense of peace that he could not ever remember feeling, and as he looked down at the girl in his arms, Sora felt a great thrill run through him at seeing that pure, childlike happiness had returned to her smile as her eyes danced with an equal amount of joy.

The two were so caught up in their moment that they hardly even realized that they had drawn the attention of nearly everyone in the ballroom, with several people forming a circle around them as they tried their best to get a glimpse of the pair that had basically taken over the dance floor with their performance. Even if they had noticed, they would not have cared, because that feeling from before when they first kissed had returned in a whole new light, and left them in a place where the only things that mattered was a paradise exclusive to Sora Hikari and Ruby Rose.

When the song finally ended, Ruby and Sora paused to step back and give a bow to one another, signaling their audience to show their appreciation with a round of applause. All that clapping had the added effect of helping the two to finally notice said audience's existence, and while they did become a little bashful for inadvertently giving off such a show, they did still nod in thanks to everyone. Those nods were later accompanied with a bit of laughter when they heard Ventus demanding that Aqua give him her camera, telling them that she had most likely filmed the whole thing, and they quickly moved to make sure that Ventus did not delete whatever footage she had taken of them.

After they had secured Aqua's video footage from Ven's wrath, the two took to the dance floor again, this time going for more simplistic dances so that they could really enjoy themselves without any more prying eyes, and that helped them to see how the event was now in full swing with everyone enjoying themselves quite a bit, be they students or teachers. They even spotted Penny at one point, doing a little dance of her own with one of her usual Atlas guards, and could not help but laugh when they realized that, ironically, she was doing the robot. All of this and more only served to heighten the happiness that filled the air for the pair.

Eventually, they did take a brief break from dancing so that they could rest up and catch their breath, and to their surprise, they found themselves doing so at the same time as Jaune and Pyrrha. "Hey, I see you two have decided to hide from your fans by the punch bowl," the leader of Team JNPR teased.

"Pretty much, yup," Ruby giggled while popping the "p" at the end.

"Hey, it's not like we're the only ones that have drawn an audience with a little good dancing," Sora shrugged off.

"I don't know about that. I mean, Lea and Yang have been going back and forth about which pair would likely be chosen as cutest/best couple for a while now, always between Roxas and Xion, Weiss and Ven, and the two of us," Jaune revealed, gesturing to himself and Pyrrha at the end. "But after that performance, I'd say you guys would have won it hands down if we were having a competition like that."

"Hey, don't think you guys aren't pretty good too," Ruby insisted. "I mean, Jaune, I've heard that you've been really tearing it up on the dance floor out there since you two got here."

"She has a point. Even I had no idea you were such a good dancer, Jaune," Pyrrha admitted, her smile showing just how happy and impressed he was.

"Oh yeah, well, what can I say? These things do tend to happen when you grow up with seven sisters," Jaune shrugged like it was no big deal, much to Pyrrha's amusement.

"_Seven_ sisters! I can barely handle the one," Ruby exclaimed in astonishment.

"I heard that," Yang shouted from somewhere close by.

Ruby just giggled in reply, not offering any kind of apology for her remark since she was sure Yang knew it was only half true, while Sora said, "I'm not sure I could handle that much, considering how much trouble the surrogate variety gives me."

"We heard that," Aqua, Ventus, and Roxas all called out, much to their surprise.

"Man, sound really seems to carry in this room even with the music playing," Jaune muttered in amazement. Just as he said that, a certain song suddenly started up, and he just had to grin excitedly. "Oh man, I love this song!"

"Same here," Pyrrha cheered.

"Well then, shall we," Jaune asked his date.

Pyrrha just smiled back with a nod as they took to the dance floor, and were soon joined by Ren and Nora. From that point on, everyone was treated to another show of incredible dancing, this time courtesy of Team JNPR showcasing an incredible display of rhythm and synchronicity that was worthy of famous dance teams and performers. Everyone was more than happy to let the four have the dance floor to themselves for a little bit longer before others started to join in as well, including Ventus, Weiss, Blake, Sun, Penny, Lea, and Yang. Of course, Ven stopped short when he spotted Aqua with her camera out again, and a cheeky smile on her face, and he immediately took off after her.

"Aqua! Enough with the camera already," Ventus shouted as he gave chase as best as he could, much to the amusement of both his and Aqua's dates.

Sora and Ruby both laughed along at the sight of the two from where they were, but they were still not quite feeling up to getting back on the dance floor just yet. Besides, Sora still had something else that he needed to tell Ruby before anything else could happen, and he intended to do so before the night was over. What better place to do something like that than out under the starlit sky and away from any prying eyes and ears? "Hey Ruby, do you want to go outside and get some air for a bit," he asked.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Ruby agreed, and she happily followed him over to one of the doors that would take them to any of the balconies that were connected to the ballroom. Just when they had gotten close to the main exit though, Ruby caught a glimpse of movement in the shadows of the rooftops on the building across the way, and immediately narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Hey Sora, hold on a second. I think there's someone up there."

Looking to where Ruby was pointing, Sora quickly spotted the same bit of movement that she had and said, "Hmm, hang on a second." He then started searching for something in his pockets, while muttering, "I know I brought that thing along with me…Aha! There is it!"

"What's that," Ruby asked as Sora somehow pulled out a red and black headset with a blue visor from his pocket.

"A special device that my friend, Hiro made for me when I visited his world. He called it an AR device, or something. I don't really get everything on how it works, but I do understand enough to know how it's more important features work, including the zoom lenses," Sora explained as he put on the headset and tapped the dial on one side so that he could get a closer look at the figure on the roof. When the image came into full view, he just caught a glimpse of a woman in black jumping over to the other side of the roof before she disappeared from sight completely. "There's definitely someone over there, and I don't think they're planning on going to the dance."

"You thinking what I'm thinking then," Ruby asked.

"Oh yeah," Sora knowingly smirked in reply, and with that, the two quickly raced off in the direction that they had seen the mystery figure going.

* * *

Sora and Ruby's chase had ended up leading them all the way to the CCT tower, and given that they found the guard outside was unconscious, their earlier gut instinct about the shadowy figure they saw could only grow stronger. Strong enough to the point where Ruby used her Scroll to summon her rocket locker so that she was armed and ready with Crescent Rose when they went into the tower, while Sora changed his Keyblade into Crystal Snow, while changing the rest of his current Keychains to Hero's Origin and Shooting Star. He also played around with the settings of his AR Headset a little, thinking he might be able to use it to scan for their target once they got inside, and with all their preparations complete, they quickly headed inside.

The first things they found in the tower were more unconscious guards, and from what they could figure out, it looked like someone had used the elevator to go up to the communications room for some reason, so they did not need to think too hard on where they had to go next. Getting into the elevator, Ruby looked to Sora and asked, "What do you think is going on?"

"I don't know, but whoever's behind this is about to be in for quite the surprise when we show up to stop them," Sora replied with a confident grin.

Right when Ruby nodded in reply to that confidence, the elevator dinged to signal their arrival, and the two slowly stepped out with their weapons at the ready, surveying the room for anything out of place as they went. They were not able to see anyone or anything, and the silence eventually started to get to Ruby, to the point where she could not help but try seeing if calling out might get their foe to show themselves.

"Hello? Is anyone here," Ruby called out. Her only answer was Sora elbowing her in the side. "Ow! What was that…?"

"Shush! For all we know they might be hiding and try to run when they realize we're in here," Sora cautioned.

"A little late to tell me that, isn't it," Ruby questioned before she suddenly stumbled again, making her glare down at her annoying shoes. "Why didn't I ditch these things in the elevator?"

As cute as it was to see Ruby grumbling over her problems right now, Sora needed to keep his focus on their current situation, and that meant acknowledging that Ruby had a point about keeping quiet now. "Okay, whoever's hiding in here, you might as well come on out," Sora declared.

Their perpetrator did not say anything in response to Sora's demand, but they did still step into the light, allowing Ruby and Sora to see that the person in question was a young woman with long, dark hair, clad in an all black outfit and a mask. Despite that though, Ruby could still see a familiar set of glowing, amber eyes, and her mind instantly went back to the woman she fought the night that she first met Goodwitch and Ozpin. "You know, last time I checked this wasn't a masquerade party," Ruby could not help but quip.

"Besides, why try to hide who you are behind a silly mask anyway? It's only going to come off once we…" Sora started to add on, only to stop short when the woman suddenly swung her arm around and summoned a number of glass shards that she then launched at the two of them. Seeing this attack coming, Sora acted on instinct, and raised one hand up as he shouted, "Reflect!"

His spell worked like a charm, as a barrier of light surrounded him and Ruby, protecting them from the glass shards and then exploding outwards to blow back their attacker. When the barrier had dropped, Ruby was shown to have already spun her scythe around so that she had it in firing position, and the room was soon echoing with the sounds of her sniper rifle going off. Much to their surprise, the woman actually blocked most of Ruby's blasts with one hand before she spun around and summoned out a pair of swords in a blaze of fire. Ruby immediately lunged forward, thinking it would be better to take the initiative and attack before the woman did, and swung her scythe down at her, only for the woman to leap into the air and combine her blades together to form a bow while a trio of arrows materialized from her hands just after parts of her outfit had glowed bright orange again.

Letting go of the bow string, the woman's arrows sailed easily enough towards Ruby, but Sora was quick to jump in and deflect each blow with his Keyblade, and then leveled a glare at the woman as she landed on the ground again. "You know, I think you really need to chill out," Sora quipped while aiming Crystal Snow at the mystery villain. "Blizzaga!"

Massive ice shards shot forth from Sora's Keyblade the minute he called out his spell, and likely would have frozen her in place had it not been for a bit of last minute interference. Said interference came in the form of a collection of shadows suddenly materializing between the heroes and their enemy, and from them came a man that was clad in an Organization XIII coat, who simply swung his hand and batted Sora's icy attack away like it was merely a volleyball, much to his surprise. He managed to shake off his surprise quickly enough and begin firing off a few more similar spells, only to have them batted away by the stranger in the black coat as well. Luckily, Sora was not aiming for his spells to work; he was just building up the energy for a more powerful attack that he was sure would not be blocked or deflected.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, kid," the figure in the coat advised, his masculine voice being the only sign of his gender, but at the same time, it also sounded a bit familiar to Sora. "Unless of course you want to turn this whole room into a frozen wasteland."

Sora just grunted in annoyance, knowing that this guy might have a point. The last thing anyone needed was for any part of the CCT to be damaged, and his most powerful ice spell was very likely to do that. It was not going to stop him from at least trying to get some answers from this new arrival, considering he was a bit more talkative than his partner. "Who are you? And why do you have an Organization coat?"

"First off, this coat was someone else's long before it became the standard attire for the Organization. Can't say I blame you for not knowing that though, all things considered," the figure clarified. "As for who I am, let's just say that I'm someone who's original self was forgotten by history as he watched it unfold, yet who you know quite well."

"Huh," Sora asked, not understanding that at all. Before he could ask any more questions though, everyone heard movement from the elevator, and Sora and Ruby both turned to see General Ironwood arriving to investigate the disturbance as well. Seeing the general had now showed up made the two heroes think that the odds had turned in their favor, but when they looked back to where their opponents were, all they saw was the last traces of a dark corridor vanishing after it had closed. "Rats! They got away," Sora grumbled.

"Who got away," Ironwood asked, sounding a little suspicious of the pair before him. "Could one of you please tell me what's going on here?"

A worried look passed between Sora and Ruby at the general's tone, but all the same, they did their best to explain everything that had just happened just now. When they finally finished, Ironwood's suspicions of them were obviously lifted, but his worry still seemed to remain. Too bad for them he was not about to let them in on why he would be worried.

"Thank you both for telling me this. I'll inform Ozpin about this as soon as possible, but you should probably expect us to call you both so that we can talk about this again tomorrow morning," Ironwood informed the two.

"If it means that it'll be easier to catch those guys then we'll be happy to help, General," Sora said with a nod.

Ironwood nodded back to show his acceptance, and then said, "Why don't you two go back to the dance for now? No reason for you to end this night on a poor note if you can help it after all."

Sora and Ruby nodded in thanks to the general and proceeded to head out, with Ruby returning her scythe to her locker as they passed by it. There was a bit of a somber mood around them, but as they came closer to the ballroom again and heard the sounds of the music still playing, it became a little easier for them to at least cheer up a little bit. That is until Sora remembered the original reason why he asked Ruby to step outside for some air, and he stopped short a few feet of the entrance.

"Hey Ruby, can we talk for a minute," Sora asked.

"Sure. What is it," Ruby asked in return, confused why Sora was no longer following her in rejoining the rest of their friends.

In response, Sora led her over to a nearby bench and said, "You may want to sit down for this. It's a bit of a long story." He could see that it was not really helping Ruby's confusion too much, and while it did create a small ache inside of him, thinking about telling her this, he knew that he could not put it off any longer. "It's about the friend that my team and I came here to find. I think it's long past time that I told you everything about her."

"Her," Ruby repeated in question.

Sora nodded to say that Ruby had heard right, and then went on to say, "Her name is Kairi, and she's both my best friend and the first girl I ever loved."

When Sora said he was going to tell Ruby everything, he meant everything. From the moment that he first met Kairi all those years ago, to the day when he lost her the first time, to the time when they were reunited in the Castle that Never Was, and all the way right to the end when Xehanort had struck her down right in front of him. It was hard telling this story, but as he progressed further and further through it, explaining all the details to Ruby as best as he could, Sora found that it became easier, like a heavy weight was being lifted off him that he did not know he was carrying until now. As hard as it was to talk about Kairi, it also felt really good for him to finally do so, especially with Ruby. The only thing he was really worried about now was how Ruby was going to react.

In all honesty, Ruby was a little worried about hearing what Sora had to say from the moment he mentioned that Kairi was his first love, but she was proud to say that she was able to keep any feelings of jealousy at bay so that she could hear him out. Sure, it was harder at some points than others, like when Sora mentioned how he had wanted to share the paopu fruit with Kairi, but when he brought up the less pleasant times, Ruby found that she was more saddened for Sora and Kairi than she was jealous of them. Hearing how he was constantly being pulled away from Kairi time and again, until they were finally separated in the most permanent sense made Ruby's heart ache in a way she never knew that it could, right to the point where she was sure that a few tears had slipped past her eyelashes on Sora and Kairi's behalf. The thing that finally did it for her was when Sora told her about what his friends recently learned regarding whether or not Kairi really was still on Remnant, and at that point, she did not bother even trying to stop herself. She just launched forward and wrapped Sora in the tightest hug she could manage while shedding tears for her friend, and from the wetness on her own shoulder, she could tell that Sora really needed a moment to cry as well.

After they had shed all of their tears and pulled apart, Ruby was left with just one burning question. "So…what now? I mean, do you really think that Kairi's still out there?"

"I'm sure she is," Sora insisted once more. "Kairi didn't give up hope that I would come back even when she could barely even remember me, so I can't start thinking that she may be gone for good when we haven't found anything that says if that's true or not just yet. I owe her that much at least." He then paused for a brief period before he turned to Ruby again with a smile and said, "But I'm not going to let that search control me anymore. Not if it means that I'm going to lose my friends in the process, or my chance to maybe find something special with you."

As flattered as she was to hear that last part, Ruby was still worried about one thing. "Are you even sure that you care about me in that way," she asked. "Or that I'm not just a replacement for Kairi?"

"Ruby, of course you're not a replacement. You deserve way better than that," Sora instantly insisted, surprising Ruby with how quickly he had answered. "I won't lie, though; Kairi will always have a place in my heart that can't be filled by anyone else. Like they say, you never forget your first love." He then placed a hand on Ruby's cheek, gently caressing it as he finished, "But that doesn't mean I can't make a place in my heart that's just as special for someone else, if not more special, and I believe…No, I _want_ that person to be you, Ruby Rose. If you'll have me."

For the fourth time that evening, Ruby found herself surprised by something Sora said or did, only this time, it was so great that she could barely think properly as a result. The words themselves were very nice, but it was the amount of certainty and passion that Sora had spoken them with that really got to her, and they all told her that he truly was serious about this. When she finally did think of a response to give, she just went with the first thing that popped into her head, without even thinking about how it would sound.

"I really want to kiss you right now, if that's any indication," Ruby told the boy who was currently looking at her in a way that no other boy ever had before.

Knowing that Ruby might be getting ready to mentally beat herself up right now for that answer, Sora merely smiled a little more, moved a bit closer to her, and whispered, "I wouldn't be complaining if you did."

_'Well, goodbye heart. You did a great job at keeping me alive for as long as you did'_ was the only thing Ruby could think right now, with how her heart was now definitely fluttering enough to the point where she was sure that it would pop out of her chest and fly away, but she did not care. It was plain as the smile on her face as she and Sora closed the distance between each other and shared their second kiss.

Just like the first one, their kiss remained gentle and sweet, without any form of forceful pushing or tongues getting involved. It simply remained as innocent as the two souls who were sharing the embrace, while simultaneously holding all the love and care that they held for one another, launching them into a paradise all their own, filled with brilliant fireworks and magic unlike anything either of them had ever known. They only broke apart when the need to breathe became too strong to ignore, and even then, they just kept smiling at one another with the happiest grins you could imagine.

"So, I know that it might be a little late to ask this, but Ruby, would you like to be my date for the dance? Or what's left of it anyway," Sora breathlessly asked.

"I would love to," Ruby replied. "But only if you'll go out with me."

Sora just smiled back, his eyes dancing with a happiness that Ruby had certainly never seen until now and wanted to see more of in the future, and said, "It would be my honor."

With that, the two walked back into the ballroom hand in hand, and ready for whatever the future may bring from then on out. Sure, they were bombarded with a few teasing remarks from some of their friends when they realized what had happened between the pair, but they did not care. Tonight had turned out to be absolutely perfect, and they were more than happy to see it through to a peaceful end.

"AQUA! For the last time! Put the camera away or I'll take it away!"

"NEVER! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! I need to get a few pictures of those two!"

…Well, as peaceful of an ending as it could be, at least.

* * *

**_AN: Hehe. Well, that's one way to end a chapter, and on a light-hearted, yet still very high note. Even so, there's a lot of stuff we need to go over that went down today, so I'll try to make this as quick as I can before we run next chapter's preview. But first...[looks to Qrow] We good?_**

**_Qrow: [silently stares at AN, glaring intensely, judging him...and then just tosses his remote back] Fine. You get a pass._**

**_AN: Phew! I'm safe! Okay, let's get right to work. To start off, I'm sure you all noticed the changes to the combat class at the beginning of the chapter, like how we didn't go into detail about Pyrrha's fight with Team CRDL. I mean, why would we need to? We all know that Pyrrha totally owned those tools, and besides, it wasn't a main focus point. Might as well have mercy on Cardin and his goons and not rub more salt on the wound...this time. Also, I'm sure you guys noticed how Mercury challenged Ventus to a match instead of Pyrrha. I went with that because one, we've seen that fight enough as it is, and two, Ven hasn't really had all that much solo action in the story so far, at least on-screen, so to speak, so this was his big moment to really shine._**

**_Speaking of shining, we also got to see Goodwitch's softer side come to light as well with her show of concern for Sora at the beginning. Like she stated at the beginning, she, like any other good teacher, does care for the well being of her students, so of course she would become concerned with Sora's sudden change. What did you guys think of that moment though? Did I make her seem too soft? I mean, we rarely see that side of Glynda as it is, so it's not that easy to say for sure._**

**_Anyways, let's talk about the moment when Jaune was trying to ask Weiss to the dance. Honestly, I didn't think Jaune's singing was that bad. I just had Lea say it was for the sake of humor for the situation, and so that he could have an entry point into the conversation. I mean, when you think about it, it seems kind of obvious that Lea would help spell things out for Jaune about Pyrrha, and thus, the most important changes to that moment in Team JNPR's room when Jaune finally wised up and asked his warrior girl princess out. Yeah, Arkos is now alive in this story baby!_**

**_Speaking of pairings that are becoming official, looks like Goldenflame is getting closer to being realized, and Windchill is really on its way now thanks to a little extra push from ol' Vomit-Boy. Who'da thunk it? I mean, besides just about everyone. Come on! If Jaune was willing to give Neptune some advice so that he could get closer to Weiss, why wouldn't he try to help Weiss out in getting together with the guy that she really likes most?_**

**_Now, one of the big matters that I'm sure everyone was wondering about: Sora and Blake's intervention. Originally, I wasn't going to make them both one meeting, but I figured it would save time if I did, and that Sora would benefit a little bit more if he heard what Yang had to say to Blake. Plus, it also served to help the girls get a better understanding of Sora's mood by having Roxas spill the details about Kairi after the moment when Bumblebee found our hero in such a poor state._**

**_Speaking of big moments, the dance is another one that I'm sure everyone was glad to see, and I hope you all got a pretty decent idea of what our visiting heroes looked like. The RWBY crew all kept their original dance outfits (and Jaune got to avoid having to wear a dress this time, as funny as that was), but...well, I really explained the KH gang's dance attire as best as I could in the main story. There's no shorter way of explaining it, aside from mentioning that Terra sported a classic style of Japanese formal wear._**

**_On the topic of Terra, like Aqua, his last name is Latin in origin, and in point of fact, is translated to mean strength. No surprise given his preferred fighting style, right?_**

**_Plus, there was the confrontation that Ruby and Sora had with Cinder, only this time around, they had a little surprise interference. Who could that man in the Organization coat have been? What did he mean with the strange things he said? And how did...Oh, who am I kidding? We all know it's Luxu aka Braig aka Xigbar, right? Right. Moving on._**

**_The final touch that I'm sure everyone was hoping for: sweet, beautiful, loving RoseHeart goodness galore! The touching moments, the resolution to the previous problems, the big confession about Sora's previous love, Ruby's reaction, and finally, at long last, the moment when it all became official! I mean, Arkos taking off is cool, but let's face facts, it's really more of a background thing that we all knew was going to happen, because this story's big main pair is now a-go! Yeah! Hail the conquering hero!_**

**_[you know what scene from Aladdin would follow after that line, so by all means...watch it, laugh at it, enjoy it]_**

**_Sora: Are you done?_**

**_AN: Yeah, I'm good. Oh, and yeah, I did have to make Aqua be the one who was constantly taking pictures of everyone, because, let's be honest, she's more than likely the type to do that, especially with her younger friends. Plus, you could also say that if anything, this makes her revenge on the boys complete at last. Assuming Ventus doesn't have any intentions of getting back at her later for getting all picture crazy. Hehehe. Can anyone else see that coming up again as a little skit in the SLVR Chibi story for this series? (And yes, that would be what I intend to call it)_**

**_Now then, I'd say that this would make for a nice early birthday present for Ruby, and I'll still have her other present that will be getting posted on Halloween as well. Just keep your eyes on RWBY Meetings for that one. As for this story, I'll bid you all ado by saying Happy Early Halloween, Happy Early Birthday Ruby Rose, and of course, Onto the Preview!..._**

**_It's time to get back to work now that all the drama between our heroes is dealt with and their all rested up, but not before Ruby and Yang get a special surprise visitor from home. With Ruby and Sora managing to let Ozpin and his allies know about the base in the south east, you would think that would be enough for our heroes, but that's where you would be wrong. Team RWBY is determined to see this matter through to the end, and manage to find a way to get on a mission to said area soon after. Sadly, Team SLVR is unable to join them for said mission, having one of their own with Aqua acting as their leader and backup, but it may turn out that the two missions are actually the same mission. Find out what there is to discover as the two teams head off for one of the most famous historical locations in Vale for their respective assignments, next time._**

**_Once again, Happy Early Halloween to everyone, Happy Early Birthday Ruby Rose..._**

**_Ruby: Aw, thanks! Can't wait for the present you're gonna give me on the day itself._**

**_AN: Oh, you should be excited. It'll be a good one! And as always..._**

**_Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy._**


	13. Scouting Things Out

**_AN: Okay, it took a little bit longer than I thought, but we've got it up and running. That's right. We're back again with another thrilling chapter in...Remnant of the Key!_**

**_[audience applause]_**

**_Yeah, that's right. You know you're excited and ready. Some of you are just dancing with anticipation, while others just can't stop dancing. [throws a look to the side before muttering] Literally._**

**_JNPR: [dancing to "Shine" as said song plays]_**

**_AN: Guys seriously. That chapter's over! You can stop dancing now._**

**_Nora: Hey come on! Don't be a hater!_**

**_AN: I'm not a hater, Nora. I'm just telling you to stop dancing when the chapter about the actual dance is already over._**

**_Jaune: Can't help it. It's a great song!_**

**_Ren: It's hard to believe how long it's been since we all first performed to that song._**

**_Pyrrha: Yes, that was lovely, and full of grand memories._**

**_Nora: Not to mention some funny ones too, like how Jaune wore a dress for the whole thing._**

**_Jaune: Hey, an Arc never goes back on his word, but I do wish you guys would stop bringing that up._**

**_Ren: Of course, it's not like that's the only song that we can enjoy. I've found a few that I like as well since we first came to this studio._**

**_Nora: Yeah me too. You guys wanna listen?_**

**_Pyrrha: That sounds grand._**

**_AN: Okay. Where have I seen this before?_**

**_Nora: Oh! Me first! Listen to this! [taps her Scroll to cue up a song]_**

**_[cue "Revolution" by Orange aka Generator Rex theme song]_**

**_Ren: Not bad._**

**_NPR: [dance along to the song for a few minutes until Nora stops it]_**

**_Nora: If you think that's good, how about this one?_**

**_[cue "121" from A Goofy Movie]_**

**_Pyrrha: Wonderful!_**

**_NPR: [dance to song until Nora stops it]_**

**_Ren: If I may be allowed to share some of my music next? I believe I have at least one that is quite enjoyable. [taps Scroll to cue up a song]_**

**_[cue "A Million Dreams" from The Greatest Showman]_**

**_Nora: Oh, I loved that movie!_**

**_NPR: [dance along until the song stops]_**

**_Ren: What about you, Pyrrha?_**

**_Pyrrha: Well, I did find one or two songs that I really liked. [taps Scroll]_**

**_[cue "Lesson Number 1" from Mulan 2]_**

**_Nora: Sweet!_**

**_NPR: [dance to song until it stops]_**

**_Ren: That seems like a very appropriate song for you, Pyrrha._**

**_Nora: And that just leaves our fearless leader to share._**

**_AN: [while watching Jaune try to avoid playing any songs for the group] I'm telling you I've seen this somewhere before, and not just in another author's note, either._**

**_Jaune: No! I don't want to. They're mine._**

**_Nora: Play one!_**

**_Jaune: Don't you be pushing my buttons! [looks to the side and gasps] Professor Goodwitch!_**

**_NPR: [gasps in surprise as they turn around, only to see no one there]_**

**_Ren: [looks to see Jaune trying to make a break for it] Hey!_**

**_Nora: Hold it! [taps Scroll to cue up funny chase scene music] Get him!_**

**_Jaune: AAAAHHHH!_**

**_Ren: Get back here! [chases him with the rest of the girls]_**

**_Jaune: Come on, guys! This isn't funny!_**

**_AN: Okay...I'm just gonna let them hash this out and start today's chapter, if nobody minds. Review answers are going to happen in the ending note today after we go over details and reasonings for things that happened in the chapter, so without further ado..._**

**_I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story._**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Scouting Things Out**

While the dance had been a resounding success that was enjoyed by everyone for one reason or another, there was just no hiding what had happened in the backdrop, at least for Ozpin, Ironwood, Goodwitch, and Aqua. The general had wasted no time telling the other three about what had happened at the CCT, and while they were all relieved that Sora and Ruby were both unharmed, it was the fact that someone had snuck into the school and the tower for some unknown purpose that really had them worried. Hearing that one of the people involved had been wearing an Organization coat and seemed to know about Sora enough to know what his magic was capable of had raised a few more red flags for Aqua, and she had immediately notified Yen Sid, Mickey, and Riku afterwards.

When they heard about all of this, Riku and Mickey wanted to go to Remnant right away so that they could help get to the bottom of the mystery, but Yen Sid had shot that idea down right away. His reasons for doing so was that they had already taken a huge risk by having so many of their current Keyblade wielders on Remnant just last night, and that they needed to avoid drawing the Heartless to Remnant anymore than they likely already had been with the number of wielders that was already on said world. The entire time he spoke though, the three masters all felt like he was just looking for excuses or that he had now used the same tired excuse multiple times now, but for what reason, none of them could say for sure. Whatever the case, Yen Sid had not given them any chances to argue, as he had ended the conversation right then and there by stating that until they had at least dealt with the Nobodies that were on Remnant, no other wielders were to go to Remnant save for the ones who were already there.

Out of everything in the conversation, that last order was the part that Mickey, Riku, and Aqua liked the least. They understood the reasoning of course, but the way he had given the order had left them all feeling like they had been treated as disobedient dogs. Even Mickey could not remember his former teacher ever talking like that to him; not even when the mouse king had tried on his master's magic hat and nearly flooded the Mysterious Tower, so did that mean that Yen Sid knew something more about the matter and was refusing to tell them? Just what could have one of the most powerful sorcerers in all the worlds, and a former Keyblade master like Yen Sid so worried? These were questions that plagued the three's minds quite a bit, but at the moment, Aqua was unable to really think about that.

Since she was the only Keyblade master on Remnant at the moment, Aqua's previous duty as Yen Sid's speaker on recent matters had taken on a more permanent nature, and that meant she now had to attend the meeting that Ozpin, Ironwood, and Goodwitch were having in the Beacon headmaster's office to discuss what had happened last night. Of course, it may have been stretching things a little to call this a meeting, because so far, Ironwood was just ranting about things that they already knew and choices that were being made in response to that information. She was able to calmly handle it for now, but there was only so much that Aqua could take of Ironwood's ravings before it started to wear on her, and judging by how he was tiredly rubbing his brow, Ozpin was not doing much better, and he had far more experience dealing with the general than she did.

"They were here," James reiterated for the fourth or fifth time that morning, much to both Ozpin and Aqua's annoyance. Of course, one other person was just as irritated, and she was the one who actually spoke up.

"Yes, thank you James. We are all very much aware of that, both from the initial report, and from the last few times you said that," Goodwitch said. She had not raised her voice, but she did still use a tone of voice that she normally only reserved for misbehaving students.

"Fantastic! You're aware," James shot back in kind, his sarcasm plain as the nose on his face. "What I want to know is if we're going to actually do something about it or just keep staying the course while continuing to ignore what's right in front of us?"

"And what exactly do you suggest we do, General? Chase after someone who's already long gone? Maybe storm the hideout that we don't know the location of," Aqua questioned before Glynda or Ozpin could answer him. When Ironwood did not say anything in response, Aqua took that as her cue to press on. "No one is ignoring anything, whether it's right in front of them or not, but we can't take any action when we have so little information or options to act on. Doing otherwise would be reckless and dangerous for us, any troops that we send out, and the general public."

Ozpin and Goodwitch were not going to lie; seeing Ironwood being cowed so heavily into seeing reason by Aqua gave them a hint of satisfaction that made them smile a little bit. Really, as a general, James should already have known all of this without needing someone to spell it out for him, and it seemed like he had realized that given the look on his face after Aqua had done so, but they both knew that James Ironwood was not one to back down so easily, even if it was out irrationality. Just when he was opening his mouth to retaliate Aqua's points with whatever ridiculous retort he had in store, the alert for the door suddenly rang out, letting them know that the late arrivals of this meeting were finally here.

_'Consider yourself lucky to have been saved by the bell, James,'_ Ozpin thought with no little amount of smugness as he stood up and granted the people outside permission to enter.

"Hey, sorry we're late," Sora apologized on his and Ruby's behalf.

"Let me guess: you overslept, right Sora," Aqua lightly teased.

"No. I got held up trying to help get Axel out of bed. Again," Sora insisted.

"Yeah, and someone hit the buttons for all the other floors on the elevator on the way up here," Ruby added on. When she noticed the strange looks she was getting after that, Ruby quickly added, "It wasn't us."

The adults in the room then turned to Sora, and knowing what they were thinking, Sora instantly said, "It wasn't! It was some jerk from Vacuo or something. I think."

"Uh-huh," Aqua muttered with a knowing smile. Clearly she was enjoying the two's nervousness.

"Thank you both for coming, Ruby and Sora," Ozpin nodded, wanting to get down to business and out of the silliness, even if he was starting it with some simple small talk. "How are you both feeling?"

"Pretty good, all things considered," Sora shrugged with Ruby nodding in agreement.

Apparently, he had unknowingly given Aqua an opening, because the blue haired woman had instantly smirked and said, "I'd have thought you two would be a lot better than just 'pretty good,' considering the recent developments in your relationship."

"Oh? Just what recent developments would those be," Ozpin asked, his voice taking on a teasing tone of his own while his expression of honest intrigue was clearly just a front, unlike Goodwitch and Ironwood's.

"You mean you didn't notice, Professor," Aqua innocently asked as she pulled out her Gummiphone. Clicking it on and then scrolling over to her photo gallery, Aqua happily showed off a certain collection of pictures to the three teachers and said, "As of last night, our two young heroes are now officially a couple!"

If the pictures of Sora and Ruby at the dance were no proof enough, the bright red blushes that they now had certainly was, and while they were both shocked by this, Goodwitch and Ironwood would not call this anything other than good news. The fact that the two looked so cute together and how beautiful Aqua's pictures of them were had very little to do with it. Ozpin on the other hand was doing his best to not grin and cheer over the news of this development, having believed that this was likely to happen even before the two had met each other, but he did still intend to throw his own little private party later on.

"That does explain a great deal," Goodwitch eventually remarked with a smile. She had noticed just how much better Sora looked at the dance last night and when he came in, and she was more than certain that Ruby had something to do with that improvement. Not that she intended to give the new couple a break on their work at any point in the future, mind you.

"Aqua, please," Sora begged, wanting her to not embarrass them right now.

"Oh, but you two are just so cute! Last night especially," Aqua cooed, half-teasingly, half-genuinely.

"Uh-um…Are-aren't we supposed to be talking about what happened at the Beacon Tower last night," Ruby stuttered as she struggled to get her blush under control.

"Yeah! Let's uh…Let's talk about that. You know, since it seems a little more important than whether or not me and Ruby are a couple," Sora insisted. He quickly realized how that might sound to Ruby and turned to her as he said, "Not that us being together isn't very important, too. I mean, it is really important, to me, but in this situation…"

"Relax, Sora. I know what you meant," Ruby reassured him, taking his hand to show that she meant it. She probably should have stopped there, but she could not help herself from leaning in and giving him a quick peck on the cheek as she added, "It's still really sweet that you think so highly of us being together though."

"Ahem. Can we get back on topic, please," Ironwood coughed just when Sora was starting to goofily grin, making everyone straighten up and remember where they were again. He then walked over to the two students and said, "Now, Ruby, Sora, I feel it's appropriate to tell you both that I think what you did last night is exactly what being huntsmen is all about. You both recognized a threat, you took action, and you did the very best you could."

"Thank you, sir," Ruby nodded happily, no longer flustered, and a little relieved to find out that she and Sora did not seem to be in trouble. She had been a little worried about that, even with Sora insisting otherwise, so it was certainly good to hear. Besides, it was not all that often that she received praise for her good work like that.

Sora just shrugged and rested his hands behind his head as he said, "It's no big deal. At this point, it's really just second nature for me to go and try to stop bad guys."

"You say that like you've done so quite a bit now," Ironwood noted.

"Because he has," Aqua informed the general. "Sora's actually saved more worlds than any Keyblade wielder of this day and age, save for Master Yen Sid."

"Uh Aqua…" Sora started to say, thinking his surrogate big sister had accidentally slipped up in her praising of him.

"Its okay, Sora. Ironwood is well aware of the secret," Aqua reassured him, much to his relief. "Anyways, he's bested the likes of various different villains, some of the most dangerous of Heartless, rescued countless people, and it's also because of Sora that the Second Keyblade War was won."

"Come on, Aqua. You're making it sound like I'm some kind of superhero or something," Sora brushed off, now blushing for an entirely different reason.

"And you're being far too modest," Aqua countered with a smile. "Or did you forget how you were the one who defeated Master Xehanort in the end, and then used the power of the χ-blade to make sure that Kingdom Hearts could be sealed for good?"

"Wait a minute. Are you telling me that he's the one who…?" Ironwood started to ask, but was ultimately unable to finish due to how shocked he was. _'This _boy_ is the one who ended a war that would have destroyed all the worlds?'_

Apparently Ironwood's shock was even more entertaining than the way he had been talked down by Aqua earlier, because Ozpin just barely managed to keep his chuckles contained, and Goodwitch was no better considering a small, un-lady-like snort had slipped out from her. "Really James, after meeting Aqua, you probably should have been better prepared for such surprises like that," Ozpin could not help but tease.

Hearing that remark helped Ironwood to regain his composure, as he said, "My apologies. I was just…well, when Aqua told me about the Second Keyblade War, I was not expecting the person who had ended it to be so young."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Sora shrugged. "But really, it's not like I did all that much. It was really more luck and having good friends on my side that allowed me to win."

"And now you're being _extremely_ too modest," Aqua admonished.

"No, really. It wasn't my skill or power that won me the fight against Xehanort. It was my heart more than anything, and a whole lot of luck," Sora continued trying to insist, only for someone to gently grasp his hand before he could keep going.

"Sora, just take the compliments. If they want to make you seem like the greatest hero that ever lived, you might as well let them," Ruby gently told him.

Sora could see her point, and let out a resigned sigh of defeat knowing that she was right. Not that it was going to stop him from getting down to the heart of the matter. "So, last night the general said that you would want to talk to us about the intruders," he prompted. "I mean, we don't mind, but only if you really think it would help you catch them."

"Whether it would help or not remains to be seen, but we do still want to hear anything you can tell us about them," Ozpin requested.

"Like what," Ruby asked, wanting to know if they were looking for anything specific.

"Was there anyone else with them? Did they look familiar to either of you? Things like that," Goodwitch provided as examples.

Ruby and Sora took a minute to think before the former just sighed and said, "I don't really know. That was the first time I ever saw someone wearing an Organization coat in person, and the woman was wearing a mask the whole time."

"Not to mention that she seemed like she was trying really hard to keep quiet, considering that she never said anything," Sora pointed out.

"What about the man in the coat? Was there anything familiar about him," Aqua asked.

"I'm…I'm not sure," Sora thought aloud. "His voice sounded a little familiar, but the way he spoke was really weird and cryptic. Plus, he kept his hood up the entire time, so I couldn't see his face, but I'm sure that he knew how to use magic with how he just deflected most of my spells with his bare hands."

"Can you remember anything that the man said to you, Sora," Aqua asked.

"I doubt it really means much. All he said was a warning about using some of my more powerful spells in the communications room, and a bunch of other gibberish. Something about how someone else wore the Organization coats before they were used by the Organization. And something about how his original self was forgotten by history while he was watched it happen," Sora recalled as best he could. "He also talked like I had met him somewhere before, but I don't really know where."

"He never even attacked us. Just kept most of Sora's spells from hitting his partner until he got the chance to teleport them both out. I never even saw if he had a weapon on him," Ruby added on. "The woman fought with glass, but I don't think that was her Semblance. Her clothing lit up whenever she attacked."

"Hmm…this information regarding the man does seem a little strange and worrying," Goodwitch stated. "But the woman you fought sounds somewhat familiar."

"Are you saying that you've met her, Professor Goodwitch," Aqua asked.

"I'm not certain, but from what these two have said, she sounds a lot like the woman I fought the night Ozpin and I met Ruby, save for the glass," the blonde revealed.

"What're the chances that they're the same person then," Aqua proposed.

"Not all that high. Embedding Dust into clothing is an age-old technique that anyone could do," Ironwood waved off.

Aqua let out a small huff of annoyance upon hearing that, and then said, "So then we're back to square one, with no clue on just who they are or where they could likely be, and only guesswork as to whether or not they were working on their own or for someone else."

"Wait…Do you think these people could be connected to Torchwick, the White Fang, and the Nobodies that have been seen in Vale recently," Ruby asked, having deduced that may very well be why they were so interested in this topic.

"It's possible," Ozpin admitted as he scratched his chin in thought. "But we still lack any evidence that might link the two together."

Aqua could not help but wonder why Ozpin would say it like that. From where she was standing, it was like he was fishing for something from the two, or trying to give them some kind of opening, but Aqua doubted that either Ruby or Sora could possibly know something that might tie these mystery people in with the recent upsurge in Nobodies, or with the activities of Torchwick and the White Fang. Then again, this was Sora she was talking about, so the chances he might know such information was pretty good, and if the way he had gotten that information was not a method that would normally be approved of, then Ozpin giving them this opening was probably a good thing. She did not want to know what kind of trouble Sora and his friends would be in otherwise, and she doubted that Sora did either.

Ruby must have seen this opening as well, and from the small nod that Sora gave her, he had seen it too, so she saw no harm in finally giving up the information that they had uncovered in their teams' investigation now. "Actually, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure the guy did mention something about a hideout right before they left," Ruby said.

"Oh, yeah, I remember now. He told his partner that they needed to get back to their base in the Southeast just before General Ironwood showed up. I guess he must've noticed that the general was on his way before we had and decided that it was too risky to stick around for any longer," Sora added on, attempting to help Ruby's little white lie sound more legitimate.

"Right! He even mentioned that it was just outside the kingdom," Ruby finished.

"Interesting," Ozpin knowingly smirked. When no one said anything more, Sora and Ruby started to wonder if they had slipped up at some point, but they relaxed a little more when Ozpin next said, "Thank you for your time, Ruby and Sora. I think we should be able to take it from here. You can both go and spend some time with your friends now, if you'd like. After all, you have a big day ahead of yourselves."

"Sure do. First missions as Beacon students! I can't wait," Sora cheered, making Aqua smile at this latest show of how the old Sora really was back at long last.

"Glad we could help," Ruby bade in farewell as she and Sora made their way to the elevator.

"Oh, and Miss Rose, Mister Hikari," Ozpin called out, getting the couple's attention once again. "Please try and be…discreet about this matter, at least for now. We wouldn't want anyone getting worked up if this turns out to be nothing."

"Yes sir," Ruby and Sora both nodded, and with that, the two finally departed from the office, only exchanging a low-five once they were out of the other four's sights.

Since the two students had left the room when they did, they missed out on seeing the smile that Ironwood was now giving Aqua, and one would have a difficult time describing it as anything other than smug, no matter what the general said to the contrary. "Well Aqua, you asked for options that we could act on, and now we have one," Ironwood informed the Keyblade master, calling back to her earlier statement. "Now that we know they're in the Southeast, we can send as many troops as possible there to find out exactly what's going on and eradicate anyone who stands in our way. I can have a team ready in a matter of hours."

"A team or an army, because if it's anything like the fleet you brought when you first arrived here, which you claimed was here because you were being cautious, then I'm a little more inclined to believe it would be the latter," Aqua questioned.

"Maybe that's exactly what we should be sending. It would ensure that we would eliminate the threat before it can become anymore serious," Ironwood insisted, not knowing that he was not just irritating Aqua with his words.

"You truly never change," Goodwitch huffed, making Ironwood turn to her. "Even now, your answer to everything involves a triumphant display of military bravado that is far more excessive than necessary! You treat every situation like it's a contest of measuring d…"

"Glynda," Ozpin interrupted before Goodwitch could finish her angry statement, not knowing that he had beaten Aqua to the punch.

"…Well he does," Goodwitch muttered under her breath while still just being loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Still, you should probably be glad that there aren't any students here right now. I doubt that's the kind of example you want to set for them as a teacher," Aqua lightly joked, attempting to alleviate the aggression that was starting to build in the room.

Thankfully, she did at least get a smile out of the deputy headmistress, but Ozpin was still keeping his mind on the matters at hand. "Regardless of that, Glynda is right," he said. "I would love to end this situation once and for all; we all would, but we must remember that this could very well go beyond Vale, beyond Beacon. If this truly is part of some master plan that we don't know the final move for, we must not be so bold, nor can we risk the spread of panic."

It was hard to know if Ironwood understood any of this, as he still seemed insistent on pursuing his course of action. "Ozpin, I have served you faithfully for years, and I do trust in the judgment of your allies from other worlds," he began, but he made no effort to hide his grim tone of voice. "But if you seriously mean to tell me that your plan is to really hold the defenses and wait…"

"It is not," Ozpin interrupted, finally raising his voice when he shot up out of his seat. Though it may have been directed at Ironwood, Goodwitch could not help but flinch back a little along with the general, as she knew as well as James just how dangerous it could prove to be when Ozpin was angry or even annoyed enough to that point. Thankfully, he seemed to keep his emotions in check, for he spoke a little more calmly when he next spoke. Even if there was a small edge to his voice. "You're a general, James, so try at least thinking like one before you commit to any hasty actions."

"I agree with Ozpin," Aqua nodded. "If we were to use your plan and send as many soldiers as possible, we would leave Vale vulnerable and with very little or no defense, and that may be just what our enemies want. Even if we send a massive army into the Southeast, just outside the kingdom or otherwise, that's still a lot of ground to cover, and it could take a great deal of time. Time in which the kingdom would be unable to properly protect itself from any attacks, be it from the Grimm, the Heartless, the Nobodies, or even anything else."

"We have students from all four of the huntsmen academies here at Beacon right now," Ironwood started to remind her.

"A good number of them are about to go who-knows-where on missions that could take several weeks to complete," Aqua finished for him. "Besides that, would you really want to send those kids into a battle like that without anyone other than the people in this room to help them? Not to seem disrespectful to their skills and abilities, but they are still just children. More than that, there are other flaws in your plan to consider as well."

"Such as," Ironwood pressed.

"Sending such a large force into action like that isn't hard to hide, and our enemies would certainly see you coming and disperse before we could even get close enough to get troops on the ground, never mind actually finding the exact location of their base. All we would accomplish at that point would be merely setting them back for an uncertain period of time," Aqua explained as simply as she could. "If we are going to do something, we need to make sure we have all the facts before taking action."

"With that said, I ask you once again to think like a general and not a man acting out of panic," Ozpin pleaded with his friend. "When you're preparing to go to war, who do you send in first: the flag-bearer or the scouts?"

That seemed to finally get through to Ironwood, though he still seemed hesitant to accept the well-reasoned arguments. Still, he nodded in agreement with the two's points, but he still had one question about the whole thing. "What about these Nobodies? Most of our forces aren't equipped or trained to deal with them, so how would you suggest we handle that?"

"By leaving it to the people who are equipped, trained, and experienced with handling them," Aqua answered. She then turned to Ozpin and said, "That is of course, assuming you don't any problems with the mission I have in mind, or with the team that I would like to take it on, Professor."

Ozpin merely smiled as he sat down again, steepling his fingers before him as he leaned forward and said, "I'm all ears, Master Aqua."

The other two teachers/defenders of Remnant were also curious, and it was not long before that curiosity was satisfied. Sure, Glynda was a little hesitant to accept the idea, but she would admit that the idea was much more sound than anything else that they could try. Ironwood was a bit more skeptical, but in the end, he was willing to accept that the people Aqua had in mind for dealing with these strange creatures that had invaded Remnant were the best suited for just such a job.

* * *

Despite Ozpin's request to keep things about their meeting on the down-low, Ruby and Sora could not help but spill the beans the minute that they next saw their respective teammates. Then again, considering that the rest of both Teams RWBY and SLVR were waiting for them in the former's room when they finally got back, eager to ask their leaders about what had happened, it would have been silly to think that they had any choice but to share what the meeting was about. The only other thing that anyone could think of talking to the two about was Ruby and Sora's new relationship status, and they had already had enough of that from Aqua as it was. The last thing they needed was to hear any of their friends, or more accurately, Yang and Lea doing the same. Speaking of which, Sora had quickly sent a text to Aqua asking her to not give either of those two any of her pictures for later use, but he doubted that would stop Yang or Lea for very long. The fact that the blue haired woman replied that she was not going to make any promises did very little to help ease his worries.

A few minutes later, Ruby and Sora had explained everything; from their confrontation at Beacon Tower, to the ending of their meeting with Ozpin and the others. They had left out the story about their fight with the mystery people last night because they did not want anyone to worry when they were trying to enjoy the dance, be it them or their friends, so there was no better time to talk about it than right now. Of course, that eventually got around to the point where they had to bring up how they shared the information that they gathered from their investigation, and while some of them were relieved that someone now knew about this besides them, their reactions to hearing about how the two leaders had shared that info was a little mixed.

"I'm not saying that you shouldn't have told them about that, but it was certainly a very risky move," Weiss stated once again.

"Risky or not, we were gonna have to tell someone about what we found out sooner or later. Better to tell when the opportunity comes up like it did here than at a later time when we don't have any reasonable excuse to play off of," Lea defended with a shrug.

"He has a point," Ventus agreed. "Some of the stuff we did in our investigation could have a reasonable excuse, like you being concerned about how so much stuff from your company was stolen after getting to Vale, but I doubt that anyone would be too thrilled to learn what we did to find out the rest. Plus, someone was bound to ask questions regarding how Blake knew how to find that White Fang rally, and I doubt we'd be able to play it off as dumb luck."

Weiss had to admit that the two boys had a point. The last thing any of them wanted right now was for someone to find out about Blake's history with the White Fang, and there was a very good reason why they had changed their appearances for the duration of their investigation that night. Sure, the guys could probably get away with it by saying that they were doing their jobs as Keyblade wielders, especially since Nobodies had shown up during the fight, but there was very little chance that Team RWBY would have gotten off with just a stern scolding or detention.

Blake had realized all of that already, and smiled at both her leader and Team SLVR's as she said, "Whatever the case, I think you both handled it well. You got our information to someone that could make good use of it, you did it in a way that allowed us to avoid getting into any serious trouble, and now, Ozpin and the others have a little more to go on in stopping Torchwick and his plans for the White Fang and the Nobodies."

Ruby was certainly reassured by Blake's vote of confidence, but there was something about the contemplative look on Sora's face that had her concerned. "Is everything okay, Sora?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "It just feels like it was too easy."

"What do you mean," Roxas asked.

"Call me crazy, but it feels like Ozpin deliberately let us know about the possibility of connection between that mystery girl and her partner, and Torchwick and the White Fang because he somehow knew we had been looking into the latter," Sora explained.

Everyone was quiet for a minute, wondering if Sora might have a point in what he said, until Lea finally said, "Yeah, you're right."

"I am?"

"You are crazy. Clearly all the world hopping's gotten to you at last."

Sora just shot his tall friend a flat look for his joke, even while the others laughed a bit at it, save for Ruby. She could not explain why, but for some reason, what Sora said made a certain sense to her when she thought about it. Not only that, but it also reminded her of the first time she met Ozpin and found out that he had footage of her fight with Torchwick and his goons. Knowing this, she had to wonder if Ozpin did know something about their investigation. If he had no trouble getting access to footage like that, who knew what else Ozpin could find out about, whether it was at the school or just anywhere in Vale? She eventually just shrugged it off, thinking that it did not matter in the end. If Ozpin did know something, he had clearly kept it to himself, so she might as well be grateful for that at least.

Ruby must not have hid her concern as well as she thought, because Yang was still able to take notice of how quiet she had become after Sora's comments, and lucky for her little sister, the blonde had the perfect cure for that. "Hey, no reason to be getting so down when there's a lot more good news to go around," Yang announced.

"What kind of good news," Sora asked, his contemplative look vanishing faster than it had appeared while his curiosity grew along with Ruby's.

"See, that's the thing: I don't actually know for sure what it is yet," Yang admitted as she picked up something that was resting on one of the desks in Team RWBY's room. "All I know is that this package from dad came in while you guys were meeting with Aqua and the Profs. As eager as I was to know what it is, I figured Ruby would kill me if I opened it without her, so I managed to hold off until you two got back."

"Ooh! Something from home," Ruby squealed happily, her previous worries all but forgotten as she rushed over to grab the cylindrical package from her sister.

Yang just let Ruby have her fun at trying to get the package away from her, but as it turned out, the blonde's eagerness and curiosity had at least prompted her to try and sneak a peek inside so the seals were already a little loose. As such, when Yang gave the cylinder a little shake, the item inside slid out and plopped down on the floor. Everyone just stared at it for a few seconds, trying to figure out what the sisters' dad had sent them, but jumped back a little when it bounced up and down a couple of times.

On the thing's last bounce, the thing unfurled into its proper shape, and everyone drew a little closer to see what this odd object was, some with growing curiosity, and others with a bit of worry. What they found was the most probably the last thing that anyone other than Ruby and Yang were expecting, because there, sitting happily before the two teams, was a little corgi with black and white fur, and smiling like no tomorrow. For a second, some of them thought that they were seeing things, until the dog finally barked at them, drawing surprised yelps out of everyone in the room as they jumped back in either excitement or fright.

"What the…?!" Lea and Roxas both screamed.

"Great Kingdom Hearts!" Ven exclaimed.

"WAAA-AAAH," was the reaction of literally everyone else, though Blake's seemed a little fearful than the others, while Ruby and Yang were especially excited.

"ZWEI," Ruby happily cheered before scooping the dog up into her arms, letting it happily lick her face the minute she had him. "Aw, I missed you, too! Ah, st-stop it! Ahaha!"

"Wait, wait, wait! Your dad sent you a dog," Roxas questioned.

"In the mail?!" Weiss added on, incredulously.

"Not A dog. Our doggy," Ruby corrected.

"Oh, well in that case…Your dad sent you YOUR dog through the mail," Lea asked just as incredulously as Weiss had. The next thing anyone knew, he had swiped the package that Zwei was in from Yang and examining it closely as he asked, "How'd he even get the pup in this thing? There's no way it should be possible for a dog, that size or otherwise to fit in here."

No one ended up answering Lea's question, as Yang was more focused on the matter of how their dad had sent Zwei through the mail. Although, it seemed like she was waving that off too, as her only answer was to say, "Oh relax. He does stuff like this all the time."

"Your father or your dog," Blake asked, prompting a few of the group to turn to her, only to realize that she was not standing next to them anymore. Another quick inspection of the room soon allowed them to see that she had actually perched herself up on Ruby's bed, while she eyed Zwei like she was expecting him to attack at any second.

"Blake, what're you doing up there," Roxas asked in bewilderment.

"Nothing. Just…finding a more comfortable spot to sit in," Blake tried to play off.

"On Ruby's bed? Which in and of itself looks like a bit of a chore to get onto," Roxas continued to question.

"…Yes. Why else would I be up here and putting distance between me and the little mu-Zwei?"

"Oh my stars," Ventus could not help but chuckle. It just seemed too funny to him when he figured out why Blake was really up there right now. "You're scared of Yang and Ruby's dog, aren't you?"

"No I'm not," Blake denied far too quickly.

"You are! You're totally scared of him," Ventus insisted.

"Shut up! I am not," Blake insisted, but the way her bow flattened while her face turned red were both obvious clues that spoke volumes of both her embarrassment and how honest she was being.

"Okay, then come down here and say hi to Zwei," Ventus challenged.

Blake took a quick look at the corgi and scooted further back in her hiding place before she said, "No. I don't want to."

"Why not?"

"Because I just don't."

"And you're scared."

"I am NOT!"

"Alright Ven, that's enough. Whatever her reasons are for not coming over to say hi to Zwei are her business, so let's just leave it at that," Roxas finally said as he came to Blake's defense, much to the cat Faunus's relief.

"Seriously, are we just going to ignore the fact that this dog was just in a package that it could not possibly have fit into," Lea questioned again, only for everyone to ignore him once more, as they all grew tense upon seeing Weiss move closer to Ruby and her pet.

"Are you telling me that this mangy…drooling…mutt…" Weiss began, making everyone think that it was growing more and more likely that the resident Ice Queen (or Ice Princess, if you were to ask Sora and his friends) was going to strike again, but after staring at Zwei's happy little face for just a few seconds, she ended up changing her tune in a very unexpected way. "…is going to wive with us forevah? Oh yes he is! Yes he is! Oh, isn't he just so adorable!"

While Ruby and Yang just smiled at Weiss's total 180, and Blake glowered a little, the guys all just stood there with dumbfounded looks on their faces, not quite believing what they were seeing right now. "…Wow. I did not see that coming," Roxas finally admitted after watching Weiss cooing and petting Zwei for a few more minutes.

"I don't think any of us did," Sora told his former Nobody.

"First Neptune and now a cute little corgi? Man, your competition for Ice Princess's heart just keeps on growing, Ven," Lea could not help but tease. His reward for that remark earned him a very hard elbow in the gut from a very irate Ventus. "OW! Sora," Lea whined, sounding like a little kid that was tattling on someone.

"Ven, don't go hitting Lea when he makes you mad," Sora tiredly told his partner, almost sounding like a parent when he did. At least until his smile turned a little more playful. "Just grab a glass of water and pour it on him."

"On second thought, forget I said anything," Lea quickly stated. "I'm just going to go back to figuring out how someone could get Zwei into this cylinder now, seeing as I'm the only one who seems to care about that."

The rest of the boys just rolled their eyes at their taller friend, while Ventus quickly made a mental note on ideas for gifts that he could give Weiss for her birthday or a similar holiday in the future, but their attention was soon drawn back to their canine visitor when Zwei suddenly perked up, leapt out of Ruby's arms, and quickly bounded over to Sora. Upon reaching the Keybearer, Zwei started sniffing at his feet for a few seconds, while slowly circling him, reminding everyone a little of when Sora first met Yang. After letting Zwei continue his run around of his person, Sora finally just knelt down and held his hand out to the corgi, letting Zwei stop sniff him a little more before he finally began going between rolling over and running around in a circle a few times as he barked at the boy.

"Okay, anyone else wondering why Zwei is suddenly so interested in Sora," Roxas questioned.

"I don't know. Maybe it's because when he sniffs at Sora, he can smell a little bit of Ru…" Ventus started to say, only to be silenced when Yang jabbed him in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Just hush," Yang whispered with a quick wink.

Seeing that made Ventus a little suspicious of the older sister, thinking that she knew exactly what was going on and had something to do with it, but he turned back to Sora and Zwei when he heard the former laughing a bit. Everyone was then treated to the sight of Sora getting licked in the face by Zwei as he fished around in one of his pockets for something, until he finally pulled it out.

"Hey Zwei, you want a treat? Huh, you wanna treat, boy," Sora cooed as he waved around a dog treat for the corgi, getting several excited barks in response. "Okay, here you go." Zwei quickly gobbled up the dog treat, and barked happily to show his approval of the snack before he leapt up into Sora's arms and began licking his face again, much to Sora's laughing amusement. "Aw, yeah, you're just a good little puppy, aren't you? Who's a good boy? You a good boy, Zwei? Yes you are."

Ruby could not help but grin as she rushed over and wrapped her arms around both her boyfriend and her dog, happy to see that the two were getting along so well, while Yang just smirked knowingly as she declared, "And like that, Sora's two-for-two."

"Okay, what did you do," Ventus asked of his fellow blonde, unable to keep his curiosity at bay any longer.

"A while back, Dad and I trained Zwei so that he could help judge any potential boyfriends that Ruby might get. Ruby loves that little dog of ours, so anyone who didn't show as much love for him as she does was likely going to get the boot," Yang explained.

"Right. What was he going to do? Bite Sora's hand and then pee on his shoe," Lea humorously questioned while he continued looking the cylinder over.

"As a start. Did I mention that Dad and Uncle Qrow would sometimes bring Zwei with them on some of their missions as huntsmen, meaning that he's more than capable of fighting with us," Yang playfully questioned with a knowing grin.

That was not something that any of the others had expected, and they were not sure if Sora had even heard it, given how enamored he and Ruby were over playing with Zwei at the moment. If he had, they were pretty sure he probably would have stopped dead in his tracks and backed away, but then again, this was Sora, so it was more likely that it would not have mattered. The guy could make friends with anyone, and no one needed to say anything to remind everyone of that fact. Of course, the matter of Zwei being capable of fighting alongside huntsmen was another story.

"Okay, I know we're all a little surprised by this news, but at this point, I have to wonder why that would be the case. I mean, some of us have seen things way harder to believe than that, and then some," Lea reasoned out. He then smirked a little and said, "Besides, the image of that dog tearing apart monsters like they're chew toys is kinda amusing in a way, even if it still doesn't explain how he could've fit into this package!"

"Great. Glad to see everyone likes the dog for various reasons, but can we please make sure that it stays away from my belongings. And my books. And especially my bows," Blake requested almost frantically.

"I'm a little more curious about why your dad would send Zwei to you in the first place. Not that there's anything wrong with having a loyal pet around, but…" Ventus reminded everyone.

"Oh hey, maybe this can explain it," Lea offered as he fished a letter out of the cylinder and handed it over to Yang so she could read it.

Taking the note from Lea, Yang then read it aloud for everyone. "'Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days, so I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of. Enclosed is all the food you should need, but if you do end up needing to get more, you can just put it on my regular tab at the pet shop we normally go to. Love you both, Taiyang.'"

Hearing that last part, Lea finally ceased his inspection of the cylinder so that he could scoff in disbelief, not noticing how Zwei had perked up at the mention of food and rushed over to him, apparently knowing that he was holding said treats. "Yeah right," Lea stated as he turned the cylinder over and began shaking it a little. "The dog is one thing, but there's no way that I'm gonna be able to just turn this thing over and have more than maybe two or three cans of dog food come out of…"

Right when Lea was about to finish, a small mountain of dog food tins came falling out on the last shake he gave to the cylinder. Some of them fell on Zwei, with the pup acting like it had not happened afterwards, while the rest fell on the foot of the dumbfounded redhead who was now turning his disbelieving gaze between the cans and the cylinder they were just in. "What…I…but…How," Lea stuttered.

"Geez Axel, calm down," Roxas told his friend, despite knowing that it would not probably do any good. Sure, he was curious about how it was possible to fit Zwei and all of that dog food into the package, but not to the point that it seemed his best from was.

"Well that answers one question, but it also raises a new problem: how're we supposed to take care of him when we're all going to be gone for a week on missions at least. We can't just leave him here by himself," Weiss reminded everyone.

"We won't have to. After all, not ALL of us are going to be leaving on a mission," Roxas stated, earning him confused looks from everyone else. "Seriously guys? Don't tell me you actually forgot that at least one member of our little circle of friends isn't going to be going on any huntsmen missions this week." Still the looks continued, making him slap his forehead as he sighed and explained it to them. "Guys, Xion's going to be here! You know because she's not an official student, remember? I'm sure she won't mind taking care of Zwei while we're gone."

"Are you sure that she can," Ruby asked, hesitant to let someone else take care of her doggy, even if they were a friend.

"Positive. She does some volunteer work taking care of the dogs and cats at the Twilight Town animal center when we're not busy doing other stuff. Trust me, she can handle it," Roxas revealed with a smile. Lea paused in his mutterings to smile for a brief second as well after hearing that, since he knew that Xion's volunteer work at said shelter also played a huge part in helping her to make amends with Isa, due to how the former Number VII actually had a regular job there.

"Well, I'd say that just about settles that," Yang shrugged, feeling satisfied that someone would be able to look after Zwei for them while they were on their missions. "I'm just surprised that Dad didn't send a can opener for all of this too."

Right when she said that, said kitchen tool dropped out of the cylinder and onto Lea's, making the redhead yelp in pain when it hit him. "He did," Lea grumbled. "That's probably the only thing that should have had any business being in this along with two or three of these tins."

The others just amusedly shook their heads a little at the redhead, right at the very moment when Goodwitch's voice could be heard over the PA system. _"Would all first year students please report to the amphitheater,"_ the deputy headmistress requested. _"You will be receiving your first official assignments there following an assembly with the rest of your fellow students."_

"And that would be our cue to head on out. See you there, ladies," Roxas informed Team RWBY as he began leading his best friend out of the room, somehow managing to pry the cylinder he was studying from his hands. "Come on, Lea. You can stress about silly stuff later. We've got to stop by Xion's room and ask her to look after Zwei while we're gone."

"It's not silly! There is no possible way that the dog alone could have fit into that package," Lea continued to insist as he let Roxas push him out.

Ventus just sighed at the two while sparing the girls a brief wave of farewell. His smile grew a little more when he looked at Weiss, and the heiress definitely seemed to notice, given the small smile and blush on her face. She managed to play it off by sparing a quick goodbye for Zwei as she followed Yang out the door, with Blake scurrying along behind them as she leapt over furniture to avoid the corgi. With everyone else now gone, all that was left was Sora and Ruby, the former of which only pausing so that he could give Zwei one last treat before he left with his team before he turned to the scythe wielder with a smile.

Ruby was about to ask what Sora was smiling about when he surprised her by walking up and kissing her on the cheek. "For good luck on whatever mission your team gets today," Sora whispered in her ear, and like that he was gone from the room again.

The young huntress-in-training just stood ramrod still for a moment, still not quite used to receiving such signs of affection from Sora, but still smiled in the end as she gently rubbed the cheek Sora had kissed. It was not until she heard Zwei let out a small whimper at having realized all of his new friends had left that Ruby finally came out of her daze, and upon turning to her loyal corgi, Ruby felt a sense of worry overcome her. She had no problem letting Xion care for the dog while she and her team was away on their mission, but at the same time, she did not want to leave Zwei behind after they were just reunited, so it barely took her more than a few seconds before she ultimately came up with a rather sneaky plan.

* * *

"Will you just let it go, man," Ventus tiredly asked of Lea once they had all gathered in the amphitheater, a sense of nostalgia falling over them and the rest of their friends as they huddled together in the audience with the rest of the students while Ozpin and Goodwitch stood on stage, waiting for everyone to finish filing in.

"No! I am not letting it go until I figure out how the dog, the dog food, and that can opener could all have possibly fit into that package," Lea insisted.

"Axel, you do remember that _we_ can carry entire tents in our pockets and still have room for a lot of other stuff, right," Roxas questioned.

"Yeah, because our pockets are magic, like the rest of our clothes. That was an ordinary, cardboard, small cylinder! There was no way that it should've been capable of storing all of that inside of it," Lea countered.

Just when Roxas was about to offer up another counter point, Weiss stepped into the conversation and asked, "Wait, you mean to tell me you guys have magic pockets that allow you to carry around a tent as though it were spare change?"

"Not just one tent. Several tents," Ventus admitted. "And again, we'd still have room for a lot of other stuff. How do you think we're all able to carry so many Potions and Ethers with us all the time?"

"Well, I always thought you guys tended to leave most of that to Sora since he has more pockets than the rest of you," Blake shamelessly admitted.

The three boys all shared a look with one another before they finally all said, "Well, you're not entirely wrong."

"About what," Sora asked as he joined the rest of the group, with Ruby following behind him a few seconds later after she had dropped off her backpack with the rest of her team's bags.

"Nothing. Just talking about how you guys have magic pockets, and how these guys tend to make you into a pack mule anyways," Yang informed him.

Instead of getting upset, Sora just shrugged like it was no big deal and said, "Hey, when you have so many of them, it just makes sense that you end up carrying more than anyone else. If you think I've got it bad though, you should see how much stuff me and Donald made Goofy carry on our first quest together."

Everyone got a good laugh out of that, until Ventus suddenly hushed them all. "Quiet down, guys. Ozpin's about to start this thing."

"Here's hoping that he's a little more uplifting than he was with his welcome speech," Lea commented, with everyone nodding along in agreement. Even now, there was just something about the speech Ozpin gave back then that seemed very off to them.

Speaking of the headmaster, Ozpin had just stepped up to the mike on stage, and cleared his throat to ensure he had everyone's attention before he began. "Today we stand together, united," Ozpin said proudly. "Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo, and Vale. The four kingdoms of Remnant, together as one; a feat that many of our predecessors had once thought impossible. On this day nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self expression, and as you are all well aware that was something many could not stand for."

"I'd certainly hope not," Sora muttered. "Where would anyone be without any form of art or self expression? It'd be like trying to make someone get rid of a key part of themselves."

His friends all agreed with him wholeheartedly on that, and their smiles grew a little more upon hearing the next part of Ozpin's speech. "As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generations to come, and it was a trend that is held to this very day."

_'That explains so much,'_ the guys all thought as one, each of them having noted quite a few times how so many people on Remnant had a name that shared some similarity or connection to at least one specific color.

"We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity," Ozpin carried on with little pause. "As I have said, today we stand together, united, but much like any other ties of friendship and camaraderie this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today while the rest of the world celebrates peace, huntsmen and huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional huntsman or huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the kingdom for several days, and others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. Regardless of whatever path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

A round of applause quickly followed the conclusion of Ozpin's speech, even as he moved off the stage and allowed the students to begin dispersing so that they could browse through the list of missions that were now being displayed on the screens that activated along the perimeter of the amphitheater. Of course, there were very few who would be harder pressed to have clapped louder or more excitedly than the boys of Team SLVR, much to the girls' amusement.

"Okay, now that was a good speech," Lea praised.

"No kidding. Almost makes me wonder why he didn't say something like that on the first day," Roxas commented.

"Well, this is a bit more important and special than something that happens every single year for him, and given the circumstances, he probably would feel a need to add a little extra flare," Ventus reasoned out. "Either way, I doubt anyone's not feeling a bit more excited after that."

"And we've got a few other reasons to be excited than everyone else," Sora told everyone. When the guys all looked at him in wonder, he happily explained, "If we're going to be working with a professional huntsman or huntress, then there's a chance that we might be able to snag a mission that would take us into the Southeast."

"Sora's right; this is perfect! We sign up with a mission like that, and we can easily get a chance to actually bring our whole mission to a close without having to wait," Ruby cottoned on.

"Yeah! We'll follow them around by day and give them the slip to catch our bad guys while taking down the monsters that don't belong on our world at night," Yang agreed.

"Sounds good to me," Lea smirked in equal agreement.

"But there's probably a bunch of different missions to choose from. Where do we even start," Roxas asked.

"How about with 'Search and Destroy?' Those tend to take people outside a kingdom more often than any other mission," Weiss suggested.

Everyone nodded to show their approval and quickly rushed over to the mission listings so that they could find their target choice. Lucky for them, Weiss's hunch proved to be good, as they quickly spotted a Grimm-destroying mission that was right where they wanted to be, and Ruby had not thought twice before going to sign her team up for it. The bad news was that when Ruby did enter her team's name, the computer just beeped in negative while displaying a message that said that the mission was not available to first year students, and thus immediately rejected the request for Team RWBY to participate in it.

"Yeah, that figures," Roxas muttered.

"Anyone else curious as to why a mission that first year students can't take on is being displayed here in the first place," Lea asked.

"Maybe they just decided to give us the general listings that everyone else normally gets so that the students can get an idea on how to sort through these things after they graduate and become professional huntsmen," Roxas offered in suggestion.

Ruby was about to give her own comment on the matter when she saw Sora typing his team's name in on the same mission that she had just tried to sign hers up for. "Uh Sora, sweetie, I don't think you're going to have much better luck signing up your team if it wouldn't take us," she told him.

"Hey, you never know. I mean, since Ozpin knows that we're Keyblade wielders, maybe he set things up so that we have special permissions for certain things," Sora reasoned out while explaining why he was trying his luck at it. Too bad for him, the computer gave him the same rejection message that it just gave to Ruby, prompting him to say, "Or maybe not."

"No, I think we do have such permissions. Namely, for when we have to go off on a mission to another world so long as it doesn't interfere with our classes that much," Ventus told his friend.

"That does make sense," Yang nodded.

"Either way, it looks like we're stuck," Blake commented.

"Maybe not," Ruby thought aloud with a smile.

Curious as to what the girl had in mind, Sora asked, "Have you got an idea, Ruby?"

"Yep! We mail ourselves there," Ruby happily announced.

At first, the group thought that the girl was joking, but from the look of things, she was completely serious, and that quickly brought deadpan looks onto all of their faces. Ruby did not seem too bothered by this, or like she even had the slightest clue as to why the others would be against her "brilliant" idea, and since Sora was not likely to break the news to her, gently or otherwise, Lea decided he would do it instead.

"Okay, first of all, does your family have some weird thing in your heads that makes you all think it's okay to send living beings through the mail," Lea asked as a start off before he got to the main topic he wanted to address. "Second, even if we were to consider going with the idea, there's no way that it would ever work."

"Perhaps, but it is still a rather interesting option," someone suddenly said in defense of Ruby's idea. Turning around, the two student teams were surprised to see Ozpin approaching them with a knowing smile on his face and an active Scroll in his hand as he continued to converse with the group. "Unfortunately, we had determined that the amount of Grimm in that area was far too extreme for first year students."

"Was this before or after you made it among the list of missions that would be displayed here for everyone," Roxas asked.

"Before. As you guessed earlier, Roxas, we do not organize these lists so that they're tailored to any specific group of huntsmen, and displaying the lists this way will help students to better prepare themselves for when they have to sort through mission lists as professional huntsmen," Ozpin explained. He then turned to speak directly to the group as he said, "You know, now that I think about it, that particular region seems to have become rather popular as of late. In fact, I have the sneaking suspicion that all of you would make your way there no matter which job you choose."

Upon hearing the headmaster's accusation, Yang, Blake, and Weiss all turned varying types of glares to their nervously smiling leader, while Roxas, Lea, and Ventus all fixed straight up accusing glares upon turning to Sora, who wore a nearly identical smile as Ruby's. It was pretty obvious who could have given Ozpin that idea, but neither Ruby nor Sora was planning on further confirming the suspicion. The former was just a little quicker in coming up with a response than her boyfriend. "Whatever makes you say that," Ruby tried to play off as innocently as she could.

Ozpin did not seem to be fooled, but it was hard to really tell given that he still had the same knowing smile, and his voice continued to hold a tone that made them think he was just putting on an act for them. "I'm still a bit curious as to how you all found yourselves at the docks last semester. Almost as curious as I am about how you really learned about this 'hideout' in the Southeast. Both certainly makes me wonder if either of these things has anything to do with why witnesses reported seeing robots, strange silver creatures, miniature tornados, strange fireworks, and rose petals flowing out of a dance club and into the streets sometime ago."

"Well, that first one was really more just luck of the draw, and the second is really just as Ruby and I told you this morning, Professor," Sora played off as best he could, thankful that he had been spending some time working on his poker face lately. "As for that last one…Well, I'm just as puzzled as you are. What about you guys? Do you have any ideas?"

"Nope, I can't think of anything," Lea shrugged.

"I've got nothing," Roxas smiled as innocently as he could.

"It's a real head-scratcher of a mystery," Ventus commented.

"Yeah. Uh, who knows," Ruby nervously laughed, making the others wonder if her input may end up giving them away.

If any of the five did accidentally say or do something that blew their cover though, Ozpin must have ignored it, because the next thing he said was not what any of them were expecting. "Whatever the case may be, it does seem unlikely that I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for," he sighed in false despair, only to perk up again seconds later. "Though, I do have a proposition for you all: instead of waiting for any of you to break the rules, how about we just bend them?"

A few taps on his Scroll later, and Ozpin seemed to have changed a few settings around so that Team RWBY was now assigned to the mission that they had been trying to get a place on, much to their surprise. Not that they were complaining mind you, at least until they realized that the boys were still not on the assignment. "Uh Professor, not that we're ungrateful for this or anything, but why isn't Sora's team on this assignment too," Ruby asked.

"Well, each mission can only have one first year team on it, especially in the case of missions like these," Ozpin explained, making everyone feel a little silly for a moment, since they had all forgotten about that fact. "But beyond that, I'm afraid that Team SLVR's mission was decided even before they entered the amphitheater."

"It was," the boys all chorused as one.

"Yes indeed," Ozpin nodded as he tapped the touch screen of his Scroll a few more times. "I could have sworn that I had sent that information to at least your team leader's Scroll already, but I suppose that it's better late than never. The huntress you'll be accompanying should be waiting for you outside right now, so I'd suggest you all go over these details and meet with her as quickly as you can."

As soon as he had finished saying that, Sora's Scroll went off, letting him know that he had just received a message, and he quickly pulled it out so that he could look at said message, confirming that it had come from the headmaster. Reading the subject line, Sora started to get a few ideas on just what their assignment was going to be, and soon shared a smirk with the rest of the boys that they each returned with a nod. "Well then, I guess we shouldn't keep her waiting," Sora determined aloud.

"Sora, wait," Ruby requested before he could move away. When the boy turned to face her again, Ruby cupped his face, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and said, "For good luck on _your_ mission."

As flustered as he was, Sora still smiled happily at Ruby returning his earlier gesture, and seeing that brought relieved smiles to the rest of his friends as well. It was as sure of a sign as any that the old Sora really was back again, and none of the boys hesitated in shooting Ruby smiles of their own to show her how thankful they were for her part in bringing him back. Not that she really seemed to get it right away, mind you, but she was able to figure it out quickly enough.

* * *

"Man, it's been a while since we did a mission with just the four of us," Lea remarked as he and the rest of Team SLVR made their way through the courtyard and over to the airship landing pads.

"I know. It seems like we always have either Team RWBY or Team JNPR with us whenever we do something these days," Roxas recalled.

"Guess this would be a good chance to see how well we can do without them around to help us out," Ventus reasoned.

"Ven's right. We can't really say that we've improved or gotten better by attending this school if we're always teaming up with our friends from this world," Sora agreed. "If we can't handle a simple huntsman assignment on our own, then what's the point of being here aside from trying to find Kairi?"

The other boys may not totally share Sora's continued belief of Kairi being on Remnant, but they were happy to see that he was not breaking down and turning into an angsty, angry mess at the slightest mention of her now. Do not get them wrong; they were still not all that positive about their chances of finding the girl, but something about seeing Sora remaining certain that she was out there, even if he had now moved on to start a relationship with Ruby helped keep them from giving up completely. After all, just being at Beacon had helped them get the old Sora back, so maybe staying on Remnant would eventually help them to find their friend. Sora's return to his usual positive attitude was not going to save him from being teased though.

"I don't know, Sora. I'm not sure that you can handle being away from your precious rose for too long without suffering some kind of withdrawal," Roxas joked.

"Very funny, but I wouldn't talk if I were you, Mister Sea-Salt Ice Cream Addict," Sora easily shot back, not seeming the least bit bothered by Roxas's accusation.

As good as it was to see Sora fully taking part in the fun of teasing again, Roxas was not about to let that barb go without a fight. "I am not addicted! I can stop eating sea-salt ice cream any time I want."

Everyone just stared at the confident looking blonde for a minute, until Lea finally said, "Let me guess: that would be starting tomorrow, right?"

"…Maybe," Roxas hesitantly replied, his eyes skittishly darting back and forth.

Sora and Ventus both just rolled their eyes as they chuckled at their friend's expense, but before either of them could say more on the matter, Ventus caught sight of a few familiar faces heading their way from a recently landed airship. "Hey, look who's finally back," Ventus cheered as he waved to the approaching group.

When the other three turned to see who Ven was talking about, they all grinned just as much as he was upon seeing none other than Team CFVY heading their way, tired, but triumphant. "Hail the conquering huntsmen," Lea appraised as the two groups approached each other.

"I'm pretty sure that you should only be saying that if we had finished our mission on time," Coco waved off, even if it was still with a smile.

"Hey, if you're making it back with your whole team in one piece, then that's a victory in my book," Sora assured the second year team's leader. "Still, sorry that you guys missed out on the dance."

"Yeah, we all really missed you guys last night," Ventus added on.

"Oh, it's no big deal. There will be plenty other events that we can attend later on, especially when the Vytal Festival finally starts up," Velvet assured the boys. She was a little disappointed that they had missed the dance, but she was not going to let that get her down for too long, especially when there was a much bigger and more exciting event on the way.

"Besides, from what we've seen and heard, you boys had a pretty great time without us. Especially you, Lover boy," Coco remarked with a knowing smirk, looking directly at Sora when she said that last sentence.

"What do you mean by seen? How could you have seen anything when you weren't…" Ventus asked, but his mind quickly drew an easy answer for that before he had even finished. An answer that made him frown a little bit when it came to him. "Did you guys run into Aqua on your way here?"

"Oh yes! The pictures she showed us of the dance were certainly smashing," Velvet grinned happily. "You all looked so great in them and not just because of your outfits either. The emotion in every moment that she had captured was just breathtaking, the scenery was excellent, not to mention how she managed to get such great lighting in so many, and…"

"Okay, Velvet. I think they get the point," Coco chuckled. At another time, she would not be opposed to her normally shy friend getting so excited over this stuff, but to be honest, she wanted them to report in on their completion of the mission so that she could finally just collapse on a proper bed and sleep for a while.

"Right. Sorry about that," Velvet bashfully apologized.

"Hey, don't worry about it. We all know that you've got a real passion for photography, so it's only natural you'd get this excited about it," Sora assured her, since he did know that from all the times he and Roxas had hung out with the bunny-eared girl.

"Yeah, if anyone knows a few things about getting excited over stuff they like, it's this guy here," Lea teased while rubbing Sora on the head, much to everyone's amusement.

Their laughter only stopped when they heard someone clearing their throat, and Coco felt like smacking herself on the head for a minute. "Oh, right. We still haven't introduced you guys to the rest of our team," Coco realized as she waved the last two members of Team CFVY over. "Team SLVR, meet Fox Alistair and Yatsuhashi Daichi."

"Nice to meet you guys," Sora greeted while moving to shake hands with each of the two boys along with the rest of his friends as they introduced themselves.

In terms of appearance, the two boys of Team CFVY definitely made it hard for someone to miss them, each for their own reasons. The main reason in the case of Yatsuhashi was that he was so big that he towered over almost everyone. The only person in the area that seemed close to matching his height was Lea, and even then, the guys were sure that he had a few inches on the pyro. His black hair was shaved-short, and his attire consisted of pale green and brown colors, while reminding the Keybearers a little of the style of clothing that Terra normally wore. Rounding out Yatsuhashi's attire was a large sword that he carried on his back, easily telling the guys just what kind of fighting style he preferred.

Fox on the other hand was noticeable for a few different reasons; one of those being his dark brown skin that was marred with quite a few scars, namely along his arms and lips. His clothes were a bit more normal, at least compared to his mountainous teammate, consisting of an orange vest and black jeans, while his messy hair held a copper color to it. The thing that really grabbed the four Keybearers' attention was his rather blank eyes, indicating that he was likely blind, but they did not want to assume anything without asking.

Being the upfront and blunt type, Lea just blurted it out after he shook hands with Fox. "Hey, not to sound rude, but are you blind?"

Fox merely nodded in response, but since he did not say anything, the guys all assumed that Lea had offended him. "I'm sorry about him. Lea's not usually too great with certain social interactions," Roxas apologized.

Once again, Fox said nothing, but did seem to simply shrug as if to say he was not too bothered by it, confusing the guys a little bit, and prompting Velvet to finally step in. "Don't worry about it too much. Fox just isn't very talkative most of the time, especially with people he just met," she explained. "You didn't do or say anything to upset him."

"Well that's a relief," Sora sighed happily, glad to hear that Lea's big mouth had not gotten them into trouble with the blind boy.

At that point, Yatsuhashi spoke up and said, "Coco and Velvet told me you four are all excellent swordsmen."

"It's actually more these guys than me. I tend to prefer to change my Keyblade into the chakrams since I'm more experienced fighting with them, but I guess I'm alright," Lea confessed.

"Hey, you're a lot better than you were the last time I saw you trying to fight with a sword," Roxas assured his friend. Sure, he was getting in a quick tease on him, but he really did mean what he said.

"Thanks buddy," Lea nodded, appreciating the compliment regardless of any teasing that was mixed in.

"Why do you ask, anyway," Ventus asked Yatsuhashi.

"I was curious if it would be too much trouble to ask any of you for a sparring match some time. It's been a while since I've fought against another swordsman that could provide me with a challenge," Yatsuhashi explained.

Hearing that brought a smile to the boys' faces. If they were being honest, it had been a while since they had been in a good match with another swordsman. Sure, Weiss and Blake were pretty good, and there was certainly no denying Pyrrha's skills or how Jaune was much better than ever now thanks to her help, but the guys had already fought each of them quite a few times now, so they generally knew what to expect from them. Having someone new to spar against was pretty exciting for them, but none more so than the person who answered Yatsuhashi's request.

"You got it. Next time we're all free, we'd be happy to go a few rounds," Sora said. He then smirked a little more as he added, "But don't think we're going to go easy on you."

"I would be disappointed if you did," Yatsuhashi stated with a matching smirk.

Lowering her shades a little, Coco could be seen giving Sora a quick once over as he shared this exchange with her giant friend, and she had to smile in satisfaction at what she now saw in him. _'Compared to the first time we met, he almost seems like an entirely different person,'_ she thought to herself. _'Now this definitely seems like the Sora I heard about in all those stories and rumors, and I definitely like what I'm seeing in him. Looks like Little Red snagged herself a good one.'_

As much as she was enjoying the two boys making promises to hash it out in a battle of blades, Coco was still a little going to have to put it to an end, since she knew that she and her team needed to get at least a little rest after the events of their mission, so she soon cut in. "Alright fellas, you can work out more details for your sword fights later," Coco finally said. "I'd like to give our report and get to a bed, and I'm sure that Team SLVR, here has their own mission to take care of, right?"

"Yep. We were actually just heading out," Roxas confirmed. "So I guess we'll see you guys when we get back."

"Counting on it," Coco grinned in return as she began leading her team off to the school.

"Best of luck," Velvet waved in farewell as she departed with the rest of Team CFVY.

The guys all waved back to the second year team, and then turned so that they could head over to the airship that they were going to be taking to the sight of their mission, eager to finally see the huntress they were going to be working with. Given what they had seen of what their fellow students were capable of, there was little doubt that a full-fledged, genuine huntress was likely to be something very extraordinary when in action, so their excitement was quite palpable. Sure, they were excited over getting to see more of the kingdom of Vale, but that was a rather minor detail in the grander scheme of things in their minds.

When they finally reached the landing pad they were to report to, the boys were all very surprised at the sight of who was waiting for them. Sora and Lea were so shocked that their jaws were in danger of dropping off and never coming back up again, while Roxas could only gape in wide-eyed disbelief. Ventus was just as surprised as the rest of his team, but he still managed to regain his ability to speak after a few seconds or so.

"Why do I feel like I should've seen this coming," Ven questioned aloud.

"Maybe it has something to do with how those friends of yours from just a moment ago mentioned running into me when you stopped to talk with them," replied a very familiar blue haired Keyblade master, who continued to smile at the boys' collective surprise, no doubt enjoying it quite a bit.

* * *

A few hours later into the day and well into their mission, things were not going entirely as Team RWBY had expected. Most of the hype they held for working with a professional huntsman was killed the moment they realized that said huntsman was Doctor Oobleck of all people, but the history professor had shown that he knew exactly what he was doing once they had boarded the airship and explained to them why the area they were investigating for criminal activity was perfect for a secret organization to hide in. Upon arriving at he abandoned settlement of Mountain Glenn, more commonly known as one of Vale's greatest failures, he continued to show this when he explained exactly what they would need to do, and even when their initial plan went out the window, he still kept his cool regardless as he let them eliminate the Grimm that spotted them in their attempts to follow said creatures.

While originally their mission was to just eliminate the Grimm, since they were now also here to locate a hidden criminal base, Oobleck was of the idea that the soulless monsters would lead them to wherever the bad guys were hiding. It certainly made sense, given that Grimm were attracted to negative emotions, something that bad guys doubtlessly had in abundance, but unfortunately, every time they located a pack that could lead them to their prey, they ended up getting spotted very quickly. Not that it was too much of a problem, as Team RWBY were all armed and ready to fight at a moment's notice, and easily dispatched of every one of the deadly creatures when they attacked.

Still, after going at it for so long at almost a nonstop pace, the girls were starting to get a little worn out, but they were a little more annoyed that Oobleck was not really doing too much to help them fight. For the most part, he just seemed to be taking samples of various plants and debris from the area, while looking around like he was a scout that was investigating a battlefield after the battle was already underway. The only other thing he really seemed to do during their bouts was take a few more sips from his ever-present thermos that was most certainly filled with his usual coffee. Needless to say, Team RWBY was starting to get a little annoyed with their professor.

"Excellent work, girls," Oobleck suddenly praised them when they finally gained a chance to catch their breath. "Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any signs of criminal activity or operations in this sector. Oh well! Moving on."

While most of her teammates just stared at their teacher, wondering if that coffee was affecting his brain to the point where it made him think he did not need to do anything to help them, Ruby simply holstered her scythe with a quick twirl, waved for Zwei to follow her, and happily skipped after him. Her sister on the other hand was not going to keep quiet about her grievances, but before she could ask Oobleck anything, she noticed something very big falling from the sky and it did not take long to realize where it was going to land.

"Ruby, watch out!" Yang shouted.

"Huh," Ruby said as she glanced up to see what had Yang so worried. She let out a short sound of panic upon seeing the falling thing, and dove to the side, barely avoiding the fate of becoming street pizza when the object crashed onto the ground with loud boom.

"What in the world…" Oobleck gasped as he turned to see what had just literally fallen into their midst.

When the dust cleared from around the object, the five were all treated to the sight of a massive, muscular silver creature with thin upper arms, and large cylindrical gauntlets that almost covered its blocky, black hands. It seemed to hunch over a little bit, resting its weight on one hand, while holding its other arm out, and summoning forth a large, T-shaped hammer like weapon with a long, black handle, but otherwise, showed no signs of movement aside from how its body twisted as it turned its helmeted head about as if to better discern its location, or locate any threats. Oobleck was not entirely sure what to make of this creature, but even without seeing the familiar symbol on its left pectoral muscle, the girls all instantly knew what it likely was.

"That's…" Blake started to say.

"Another Nobody," Weiss finished as she spun the revolver to load up some Dust to attack with in her rapier.

"And since we've already seen what the Ninjas and Reapers look like, I'm guessing this would be our Berserker," Yang concluded while loading her gauntlets, ready to fire a shot if the high-ranking Dusk made any moves against her sister.

Ruby just glared up at the massive beast that had nearly flattened her, challenging it with her eyes to just try and come at her. She was just reaching to draw her scythe, when someone from up above them suddenly shouted, "Blizzaza!"

Just like that, a massive torrent of ice suddenly came falling from the sky, and not only froze the Berserker where it stood, but also seemed to damage it with several large, ice-spikes that were accompanied by a small, localized snow storm. Thankfully, Oobleck and Team RWBY were just out of the ice spell's range, and their positions also allowed them to have ringside seats for the moment when someone suddenly down from the sky with a downward slice that finished off the massive Dusk-type Nobody.

"Heh, not to sound like Yang or anything, but I always did think that those guys needed to learn how to chill out as much as Saïx did," the surprise attacker quipped as he stood up straight, granting the girls visual confirmation on who had just arrived on the scene.

"Sora?" Ruby called out.

"Oh, hey Ruby," Sora casually greeted. His words and the person he was addressing quickly caught up with him a second later. "Wait…Ruby?! What're you doing here?"

"We came out here for our mission. What're _you_ doing here," Ruby questioned in return.

Right when Sora was about to answer, someone else suddenly shouted, "INCOMING!"

Sora immediately spun around to look towards the speaker, and his eyes quickly widened before he finally answered Ruby's question. "I'll explain later! Move out of the way now!"

No one felt the need to question Sora after hearing that earlier warning, and everyone that was still close to where he and Ruby were standing immediately dove away from said position, just in time for a silver blur to slam into the ground, creating a small explosion. Following that explosion came several more Dusks, along with some Reapers and Ninjas, and some spiky looking ones that the girls did not recognize, but those same Nobodies did not stick around for long, because Lea came flying in with them, and made quick work of the Dusks after changing his Keyblade into chakrams. After slashing apart so many Dusks, Lea coated the chakrams with flames and sent them flying at the Reapers and Ninjas that were now rushing him. Many of the Nobodies fell to the burning, spiked wheels, and any that did survive, Lea cut down after retrieving his weapons and turning them back into his Keyblade again.

Right when Lea was about to turn to the spiky-looking Nobodies, a loud battle cry echoed through the streets, and Roxas came swooping down to cut through them, with a fierce double-slash. More of those same, spiky Nobodies started charging him, but Roxas was ready with two powerful swings of Oblivion, the last of which he quickly followed up with a quick stab of Oathkeeper right at its center. Spinning around, Roxas then used his light-based Keyblade to send the Nobody he had stabbed flying into another Ninja, and then blasted them both with an ice spell before raising Oblivion high into the air so he could call down a shower of lightning bolts with it. When a few more Ninjas suddenly jumped out at him, Roxas merely used his light powers to jump clear, and then commenced a fast-paced dance of blades that slew each one of his attackers.

"I know I once said that traitors to the Organization needed to be destroyed, but even back then the line just wasn't me," Lea recalled as he blasted a few more Reapers and spiky Nobodies with some strong fire spells. "Doesn't mean I'm not still a little upset that the Assassins are now coming at me like they don't care about our history."

"I'm not crying over it. They were among the few that helped the regular Dusks with drawing on my face while I was sleeping, so this feels pretty satisfying for me," Roxas admitted after cutting down a few more Ninjas.

"Hey come on. I tried telling them to stop, but you know how short of an attention span most Dusks have," Lea shrugged in the defense of his former underlings.

Roxas was about to retort, but ended up never getting any words out as a powerful blast of wind suddenly blew past him, throwing another Berserker into a wall close to where he was standing. Following the wind blast and its massive passenger came Ventus who speedily made his towards the Berserker and destroyed it with Wayward Wind before it could summon its lost hammer back to its hand. Turning around so that he could slash at some of the Dusks that were flying after him, he only spared his friends a glance as he shouted, "How about a little less reminiscing, and a little more fighting?"

"Right. To be continued," Roxas agreed before he rushed off again, Keyblades ready for action, with Lea right beside him.

Sora joined the fray again not long after by blasting the Dusks with almost every type of basic spell he knew, until eventually, he used a Gravity spell to hold several in place so he could cut some more down. It was only after he had slain his foes that he realized he had managed to use said spell, and he continued the rest of the fight with an excited grin. It had been a long time since he was last able to use that particular variety of gravity magic, so his excitement was very understandable. He continued the show off how his larger arsenal of magic powers were steadily coming back by raising his Keyblade high to cast a quick Firaga Burst, which rained down several fireballs from one large orb in the sky above them, finishing off most of the remaining Nobodies, much to the relief of his teammates. At least they thought that they were all done, but they were soon proven wrong when a new squad of Berserkers suddenly materialized before them, hammers ready to start swinging.

"Seriously? You guys are better suited for guarding the gate, not patrolling the fields, so why does it seem like you're doing more of the latter," Lea demanded of the Dusks. He was not really expecting an answer, but he was getting a little too annoyed and winded to care.

Luckily for the boys, the answer Lea did receive was a powerful ice blast that froze all of the Berserkers where they stood, and it was not long afterwards that Aqua landed before them with Stormfall in her hands. "I'll handle these guys," she told the boys. "You four can take a break to catch your breath."

Team SLVR all nodded in agreement, and Ventus could not stop smiling even as he commented that this next part was going to be good, a sentiment that his teammates all shared. After all, seeing Aqua fight was a magical experience that one never got tired of watching. This time proved to be just as amazing after the Berserkers broke free from the ice, and Aqua then allowed them to draw closer, holding her position without so much as flinching, until almost the very last second when they right on top of her. At that point, Aqua summoned out a powerful magic barrier, repelling her attackers before they were ultimately frozen where they stood, not by ice magic, but by time magic. If one had blinked at that point, they would likely have missed a great deal, because with her opponents now frozen in time, Aqua took her chance to rush forward and unleash a powerful series of quick, precise strikes on each Berserker, right up until the moment they finally broke free from her spell. Too bad for them it was too little, too late, because after the spell had worn off, every bit of damage Aqua's attacks had inflicted hit them with all at once, making the Berserkers all go up in smoke as a result.

Aqua was not quite done yet, as several more Dusks suddenly appeared to attack, but their attempts only succeeded in striking air, since Aqua managed to cartwheel away before they could reach her, giving her the distance she needed to cast a quick Glacier spell, freezing the Dusks before sending them flying even further away from her. When she spotted some of the remaining Dusks trying to make a run for it, Aqua took quick aim with her Keyblade, and fired off a bolt of lightning that easily struck the central-most Nobody, which then shocked all the others around it. A quick sweep of her Keyblade mixed with some ice magic then allowed Aqua to create an ice path that she rode along using Flowmotion in order to get ahead of the very last few, and then leap into the air so that she could finish them off with a leaping strike that had the added bonus of an energy shockwave erupting from where she struck the ground.

With the final Nobodies destroyed, Aqua dismissed her Keyblade, signaling for the boys to stand down as well. What she did not realize was that the end of their fight had also been the beginning of a round of questions from the huntresses and huntsman who were also in the area. It became clear for her very soon, though; namely at the moment when Ruby suddenly appeared next to Sora, with the rest of her team following after her with various different looks fixated on the boys.

"Okay, if all the monsters are gone, can you please tell us what you all are doing here? We thought you were on a different mission," Ruby requested of the Keyblade-wielding team.

"Technically, we are on a different mission. It just happens to be the same as yours," Sora answered at last.

"Yeah, except for the fact that we're following a different trail," Lea added on.

"Meaning…" Weiss prompted.

"Instead of following the Grimm to the bad guys' hideout, we're following a trail of Nobodies," Ventus explained. "Turns out that when she wasn't telling you guys and the rest of our friends embarrassing stories about the four of us, going crazy with her camera, or having a secret meeting with Ozpin, every time Aqua was on this world she was tracking the Nobodies. Apparently, this is the only world that they've been especially active on."

"And since even the basic Dusks can think and plan, Aqua and Master Yen Sid agreed that it must mean that something pretty big must be going on," Roxas finished for his physical twin. "It wasn't until that meeting Ruby and Sora had with her, Ozpin, and the others that she really found something that could lead to wherever it was that the Dusks were most likely hiding out these days, though, but it definitely seems to have helped a lot."

"What about the huntress you were supposed to be shadowing? You didn't ditch her, did you," Yang asked.

"No, but if we did, we wouldn't be alive right now," Ventus told them, earning him a small look from Aqua that made it clear how funny she thought that was. "What? It's true! Don't act like you didn't want to kill us after the last time we made you mad."

"Wait. Aqua's the huntress you were shadowing," Blake guessed.

"Officially speaking, yes, I am," Aqua confirmed for the group. "It took a little bit of convincing, but Ozpin was willing to help us set things up so that I'd be the huntress the boys would be working with on their mission. They're still receiving the credit they would if they had taken any of the other missions for first year Beacon students, but aside from that, it's really just a cover for us to do our jobs as Keyblade wielders. We had actually started a few miles out from the city, and spent the next few hours looking for any Dusks that might appear. When we finally did, we made sure to keep out of sight so that we could follow them, at least until we reached the edge of the town."

"To be honest, I'm kind of surprised Aqua didn't think to have us start here in the first place, considering that it's the perfect place for a hideout," Lea remarked.

"I couldn't agree more, my boy. Hence the very reason why we are here scouting for any signs of criminal activity based off the movements of the Grimm," Oobleck agreed before he suddenly rushed over to Aqua. "Master Aqua, pleasure to see you again, despite the short time that has passed since our last meeting."

"Nice to see you as well, Professor Oobleck," Aqua nodded in reply.

"That's _Doctor_ Oobleck. I didn't go to all the trouble of earning a PhD for fun, thank you very much," the history professor corrected.

While the teacher and Keyblade master continued to converse with one another, Lea looked between Oobleck and the girls for a few seconds before he finally said, "Wait, are you telling me that your mission turned out to be saving the world with Doctor Oobleck?"

"Yeah, we know. It doesn't sound any better when you say it out loud," Ruby grumbled, having realized that herself when she tried to raise her team's spirits earlier on after they realized who the huntsman they were shadowing was.

What none of them expected was for Lea to suddenly burst out laughing, right to the point where he even doubled over from doing so. "Oh man, that sucks," he openly mocked between his chuckles. "I'm so glad that we weren't on your mission with you guys now!"

The girls all fixed pointed glares on the redhead for his remarks, but it did very little in getting Lea to stop laughing. In fact, it seemed like their glaring only encouraged him to laugh harder, until he ended up just falling to the ground from laughing so hard. His teammates on the other hand, while a bit amused by the fact at first, did not share in Lea's enjoyment, and ended up having their amusement crushed very quickly because of the redhead. That being said, was it really any surprise that they would end up siding with the girls in glaring at him when he did not stop after several minutes.

"Okay Lea, it's not that funny. Now knock it off before one of us makes you. Most likely Weiss," Sora ordered when they finally hit the five minute mark.

"Hey!"

"No offense, Weiss, but he is kind of justified on that one. You would be the most likely person to do something like that right now or at any time given the chance, really, considering how well you two get along," Ventus told the heiress.

Weiss could not argue with that reasoning, so she did not even try to and just nodded in concession of Ven's point. Instead, she decided to return to their original topic, and asked, "So how long were you all fighting those things for?"

"Um…Not sure," Ventus admitted as he crossed his arms in thought while Roxas finished the work on getting Lea to stop laughing. "Sora, how long were we fighting those Nobodies?"

"If you're asking for an exact amount of time, I couldn't tell you. All I know is that we'd been fighting them and a bunch of others ever since we reached the edge of Mountain Glenn," Sora confessed.

"You were fighting that one group for all that time," Ruby gasped, knowing that the edge of the ruined city was at least a couple hours away from their current position, even with Team SLVR and Aqua's magic powers.

"No, not just one group. This was actually the…I want to say third bunch, but I'm thinking it might've been the fifth one," Sora shrugged, showing just how uncertain he was of his guess.

"Actually it was just the fourth," Roxas corrected. "And in that time, we've officially confirmed that Axel's old underlings, the Assassins are working with our enemies."

"At the rate we're going though, I wouldn't be surprised if we ran into every form of high-ranking Nobody before we finally stop Torchwick and the White Fang," Lea panted.

Before the eight friends could go any further with their conversation, Oobleck suddenly appeared next to them, and announced, "Well then, students. After careful consideration on the matter, Master Aqua and I have determined that in order to better further our progress on this assignment, it would be best if we were to collaborate our efforts as we press onward through the city. Therefore, if none of you have any objections, Team SLVR and Master Aqua will be joining us from here on out."

If there were any objections, they were not going to be found amongst Team RWBY. After witnessing a little more of Aqua's abilities in a fight, they were eager to see what else the Keyblade master was capable of. Besides, none of them were going to refuse working with the guys after being left to think that they would not be seeing them until their respective missions were finished, so the girls happily agreed to the proposition with wide smiles. Team SLVR also agreed with this, since they knew full well that the girls could hold their own against enemies that were not of this world, and with that, they all began to proceed to the next area of the ruined city. They did not get very far before a certain corgi suddenly rushed over to Sora, barking happily at the sight of the boy.

"What the…? Zwei," Sora gasped.

"Ruff," was the only response that the dog gave him.

The rest of Sora's teammates all stared at the corgi, until Lea looked between them and asked, "You guys all see the adorable corgi too, right? It's not just me?"

"No, we can see Zwei too," Ventus confirmed.

"Okay. Next question: what is Zwei doing here?"

Sora had a pretty good guess on the answer to that question, and he did not hesitate in turning to his girlfriend. "Ruby? Did you have something to do with this," he asked.

Ruby let out a sheepish laugh as she admitted, "I may or may not have."

"And by that she means that she snuck Zwei onto our mission by hiding him in her backpack," Weiss clarified.

"Well, at least that makes more sense than the package her dad sent the dog in," Lea muttered to himself, still a little annoyed that he had yet to solve that mystery.

"Let it go, Axel," Roxas told his best friend.

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute!" Aqua interrupted, joining the conversation. "Are you seriously telling me that you came to an abandoned, urban wasteland teeming with death and hostility on a search for a secret criminal organization that's allied itself with dangerous creatures…with a pet?"

Before Ruby could answer, Oobleck stepped in again to answer for her. "Yes. An absolute stroke of brilliance on Miss Rose's part, wouldn't you agree," he asked, earning him bewildered looks from all the Keybearers. "After all, canines are very well known throughout history for their heightened sense of sound and incredibly perceptive noses. Making them excellent companions for a hunt such as ours."

While the rest of her teammates all rolled their eyes at both this and what they knew was going to come next, Ruby merely grinned as she proudly declared, "Yep. I'm a genius."

"More like teach over there was seduced by the dog's adorableness," Lea muttered to Aqua and his teammates.

Roxas on the other hand, had another way of disputing Ruby's claim, and did not hesitate to knowingly ask, "So Genius, did you let Xion know that you were bringing Zwei with you?"

The moment she heard that question, Ruby's grin vanished while her eyes widened a little bit, but she was just as quick to try and cover it up. "Uh…Sure. Of course I did. Left a note in our room for her and everything," Ruby nervously stuttered in response, but Roxas still kept his knowing look on her. She ended up caving when she realized why it was pointless to try and lie. "You already know I didn't, don't you?"

"Xion called us before we had been gone for even an hour, worried sick over the fact that she couldn't find Zwei anywhere," Roxas revealed. He then let out a tired sigh as he turned away and said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to call my girlfriend back and tell her what happened before she has a panic attack from freaking out so much."

"Ehehehe…Uh, tell her I said sorry for forgetting to mention this to her," Ruby feebly called out.

"Well, now that we have at least that mystery solved, let's get a move on, shall we," Oobleck declared, spinning around to lead the march to their next area.

Sora, Ruby, and Aqua all shared a quick shrug over the doctor's enthusiasm, and then followed after Oobleck without much further questioning, but the rest of their party lingered behind for a few seconds. Part of it was because they wanted to wait for Roxas to finish his call, and the rest of it was so that the girls could air a few grievances about how their mission in Mountain Glenn was going so far to the guys. They were not too willing to complain to Oobleck about how much help he seemed to have been to them so far yet.

"Strangeness and technicalities aside, it does look like you guys got the better end of things when it comes to huntsmen/huntresses that you would be shadowing on your mission," Weiss commented to Ventus.

"I mean, I get that Oobleck isn't really your first pick, or really ours either, but he can't be that bad to work with," Ventus said in the teacher's defense.

"No, he's not bad, but I was kind of expecting to see a real huntsman in action while we were out here. You know, as in fighting, or at least helping us fight," Yang clarified for her fellow blonde. "At least Aqua seems willing to do that for you guys."

"Actually, that was the first time Aqua had joined in on the action. The rest of the time we've been out here, she's been keeping out of things for some reason," Lea admitted.

"Well, it's still more than what we've seen Doctor Oobleck doing," Yang huffed.

"Ah, but don't you see, my dear? I am in action," Oobleck clarified, showing that he had been able to hear them. "While you all have been keeping the Grimm and other nefarious creatures at bay, I've been scouring the ruins of this once great city for any signs of irregularity. Such signs that would in fact help in locating the targets of our hunt."

Seeing as there was not much point in talking behind their mission leaders' backs anymore, whether it was intended as rude or otherwise, Roxas looked to Aqua and asked, "Is that what you've been doing while we were fighting the Nobodies?"

"More or less," Aqua admitted. "Although, since I don't know this area as well as Doctor Oobleck, it's really more that I've been reaching out with my senses to try and pick up on any signs of odd magic or sensations that would indicate how close we are to locations that would have a large number of Nobodies. The larger the number, the more likely it is that we'll be close to the main base."

"An excellent way to proceed, Master Aqua," Oobleck praised. He then turned to the students around them and said, "Contrary to popular belief, not every mission that huntsmen take on is filled with daring and heroism. Sometimes it's just a heightened form of extermination, or what can even amount to a simple, mundane task."

"Like that one assignment we had when we went to the Forever Fall forest last semester," Lea asked under his breath.

"Exactly," Oobleck answered, once again showing that his hearing was better than the redhead had believed. "And I'm sure that the same can be said for your duties as Keyblade wielders, boys."

The boys were all about to ask how it seemed that Oobleck knew about certain details beyond what the general public knew, when Aqua admitted, "Ozpin told some of the key members of his staff about us, but only in terms of the most basic of details."

"Seriously?" Ventus asked in exasperation. "At this point I think we would be better off with a list of people who don't know our secret, at least in the case of this world."

"That being said, while our duties can't entirely be classified as Oobleck suggested, it does often times amount to that. At its core though, being a Keyblade master is a serious job; one that doesn't always involve fighting, and sometimes, it can even be a job that you can't do by using your powers," Aqua informed the boys.

"Whatever the profession you are pursuing, they are still jobs which you all signed up for," Oobleck finished on Aqua's behalf. "You do realize that, don't you?"

Since Sora and Ruby were a little ways ahead of the group, it seemed clear that the question was mostly directed at the other six students, and given how suddenly it had come up, none of them were really able to answer aside from Yang. Even then, the fiery powerhouse was a little hesitant in her answer. "Well, yeah…O-of course we do."

Oobleck did not seem entirely convinced, but he kept quiet on the matter for now. Aqua was the same way as the doctor, but since her eyes were not hidden behind glasses like Oobleck's, her curious gaze was able to be seen by everyone. The only reason neither the teacher nor the master were saying anything was because another pack of Grimm had just appeared; a pack that Ruby and Sora were already engaging in battle, so the rest of their respective teams quickly set to work in helping to clear out the Grimm.

* * *

It was not much longer afterwards that the team encountered several more packs of both Grimm and Nobodies, and while Team RWBY mainly handled the former with Team SLVR taking the latter, the two groups did mix it up every now and then so that they were all fighting a little of both. Sometimes they would fight one or the other, other times it was both at once, but it did not matter whatever the case was to the monsters, because they all ended up falling in the end. Despite that though, they did not seem to be finding any signs of the hidden criminal base that they were all hunting for, and it was starting to get pretty late in the day, so they would have to call it a day sooner or later. Not that it seemed to bother the two who were leading the scouting mission, because they were focusing on something other than the mission at hand.

Ever since that last exchange with the students, Oobleck and Aqua seemed a little preoccupied with something besides locating their criminal targets. It was not hard to figure out what it was either, as more often than not, they would give certain members of the two student teams an inquisitive look or two that none of them could figure out the reason for. To be honest, the people that did fall under those gazes, once they realized that they were getting them, started to feel like they were being judged as people for one reason or another. It was a little disconcerting, almost to the point where they were a bit thrown off their game during fights at one time or another, but they managed to shake it off and roll with whatever punches they missed or stumbled through, sure that Oobleck or Aqua would say something to them eventually.

That guess was good, because after another round of taking down Grimm, Oobleck finally confronted at least one of his targets on what was bothering him. "Tell me, Yang," he called out after approaching the blonde brawler. "Why did you choose this line of work?"

Yang was a bit thrown off by the fact he was asking this question now of all times, but she still managed to give an answer regardless. "Well, to fight monsters and save…"

"No, no, no, that is _what_ you do. I'm asking _why_ you do it. The honest reason as to why you want to be a huntress," Oobleck clarified before Yang could finish what he was sure was a textbook answer that anyone could give.

Yang was a little annoyed over being cut off like that, but she could understand why Oobleck had done it, so she figured she might as well indulge him on that. "The honest reason is actually pretty simple. I'm a thrill seeker, so I wanna travel around the world and get wrapped up in as many crazy adventures as I can. If I help people along the way, then that just makes it even better. It's a win-win, y'know?"

"…I see," Oobleck nodded, but Yang could tell that he was not really satisfied with her answer. She could not really blame him, considering that it did make her sound a little selfish, but a part of her did start to feel like her honest answer was lacking something to it after seeing his reaction.

Later on, Oobleck moved on to the next person he intended to question, this time while taking down a few notes as he watched her wrap up a recent fight. "How about you, Miss Schnee? A girl born into fame and fortune such as yourself certainly does need to worry about taking on extra work. So, why choose this over an easy, cushy job in Atlas like most would expect a member of your family to?"

Weiss had to take a minute to run her sword through a Beowolf that was foolish enough to try and pounce on her, and then spin around to blast a Dusk with a quick round of fire Dust, knocking it right into Roxas's range of attack before she answered, but she did really need the extra time to think it over when she did answer. "It's actually for the exact reason you just gave," Weiss informed the doctor. "I'm a Schnee, so I have a legacy of honor to uphold, but I can't do that by taking a desk job. Once I realized I was capable of fighting, there was no longer a question of what I do with my life. It was my duty, and I couldn't fulfill it by taking the easy way out."

As impressed as he was by Weiss's choice to take the more difficult road, Oobleck was still not really satisfied with her answer, despite how he had classified it. Even so, he still had one more member of Team RWBY to speak to on the matter, and it did not take nearly as long to approach her. He just had to wait for her to clear out a flock of Nevermores that had swarmed out through the door she had just cut through.

"And what about you, Blake," he asked as he took a quick peek into the building with her. "You seem to carry yourself with a sense of purpose."

Much like her teammates, Blake did not need to think about her answer; just how she was going to word it. Just because a few people knew about her history, it did not mean she intended to start telling everyone about it. "There's too much wrong in this world to just stand by and do nothing," Blake stated, her passion for the matter clear in her voice. "Inequality, corruption, even simple hatred over things beyond someone's control. Someone has to stop it, even if they're the only one to try."

"Very well. How would they do that," Oobleck pressed, sounding a little more impressed with Blake's answer so far than he had with most of the others.

It was actually that question that made Blake falter a little, and she could barely say anything more than a simple, "I…uh…I'm not really sure."

"Hmm," Oobleck hummed before moving on, and Blake doubted that he had missed the disappointed look on her face, or that he was ignorant of the fact that it was directed at herself than anything else.

* * *

While Oobleck was questioning the girls on their reasons for why they wanted to be huntresses, Aqua was doing something similar with the boys of Team SLVR, at least in two of their cases. "So Lea, I've actually been wondering for a while now why you wanted to become a Keyblade wielder," she admitted the next time she had a free moment with the redhead, not knowing that she had actually asked him this at the same time that Oobleck had been questioning Yang.

"You serious? I wanted to become one because I had friends that I wanted to save," Lea reminded her.

"Yes, but even though all of the friends you were aiming to save have been safely freed from their hurt, you're still trying to be a Keyblade wielder, if not a master. Why is that," Aqua inquired.

Lea ended up dismissing Flame Liberator as he thought it over, before he finally decided to come clean. "Well, because I just love the adventure and the action," Lea confessed. "Plus, there's a reason why I'm always telling people to get stuff about me memorized. The more people who remember me, the more likely I'll be able to live on forever, at least in their memories. If part of that involves saving the worlds, or just saving the day, then I figure that makes things all the better."

"Really," Aqua hummed in thought, still feeling that Lea was keeping something to himself when he answered her.

Whether or not Lea was still hiding something, Aqua moved on to her next person to question: the young man who looked almost like an exact duplicate of her best friend/surrogate little brother. "What about you, Roxas," Aqua asked. "After all that had happened in your past, I would've thought you would want nothing to do with anything involving the Keyblade, so why keep going with this life?"

Roxas had just dealt with the Dusk Weiss had blasted over to him when Aqua asked, so he needed to take a little bit before he could answer her without feeling distracted. "Part of it is actually because of all the stuff that happened to me in the past," Roxas told her. "Out of everything that I've done, the one thing that always stands out is the fact that I'm a wielder of the Keyblade. Sure, there's other stuff that I'm good at, but this feels like the only thing that I'm really best at, so why try to ignore it?"

"I see," Aqua nodded before she moved on with trying to sense for any signs of their targets. She did not bother with questioning Ventus on his reasons though, as she felt that she already knew the answer he would give, and she was confident that he would give a satisfactory answer to the question.

Oobleck on the other hand was not so sure, so he had no problem in asking the boy in Aqua's place. "So Ventus, why do you wish to become a Keyblade master," he inquired. "You certainly seem to carry a sense of dedication to the cause you and your friends fight for."

"Being a Keyblade master is one of the few things that I've always dreamed about," Ventus automatically answered. "Me, Terra, and Aqua have all shared that dream for as long as we've known each other. I know it's not an easy thing to accomplish, but I don't care about that. I'm willing to put in the hard work so that I can stand alongside my friends as a true master and keep people safe from whatever darkness may threaten them."

"Interesting," Oobleck muttered. It was certainly a good answer, but it still felt a little lacking in Oobleck's mind, and given how the doctor had reacted, Ventus could not help but feel the same way. What they did not know, was that Aqua had overheard them, and was now giving Ventus a slightly worried look for what she had heard him say, but she did nothing more than that. She felt that it would be better for Ven to either open up or find the deeper reason behind his desire to be a Keyblade master without her interference.

With all of this going on, you would think that the leaders of the two student teams would be getting the same line of questioning too, especially since the next time Oobleck and Aqua saw them, Ruby and Sora were in the midst of playing with Zwei. The likelihood probably being even stronger, given that Ruby was using her scythe as part of a game of keep-away by sticking a big turkey on one end of it, while Sora was making clucking noises to encourage Zwei. At least until they realized that they had an audience for the game.

"Whoops!" Sora gasped as he swiped the chicken off Ruby's scythe while she quickly stowed her weapon away, trying to smile as innocently as Sora was as he attempted to laugh off their silliness.

"Sorry. Are we ready to keep going," Ruby asked, doing her best to act like she and Sora were not just goofing around with her dog.

Thankfully, Oobleck and Aqua were not too bothered by what they had witnessed. If anything, Aqua just looked amused. Oobleck on the other hand retained a sense of all-business, and waved off the question with his answer. "No, I think we've done as much as we can for today. It's going to be dark soon, so it would be best if we bunker down while we still have some light." He then passed his backpack over to Yang as he addressed both the blonde and the other girls he had just been questioning. "You three set up camp in that building, and please do make sure that no more of those…creatures are inside while you're at it. Your leader and I are going to secure the perimeter."

Aqua then turned to her group, namely Lea, Roxas, and Ventus, and said, "You three help the girls with setting up camp while Sora and I keep an eye on the surrounding area with Ruby and the doctor."

With that said and done, the perimeter patrol team of four, plus Zwei headed out to ensure that the area outside their camp ground was going to be secure, while the others just shot worried looks after their two leaders. After being questioned all day like they had been, they were a little concerned that Ruby and Sora were about to receive the same treatment, but if that was the case, then there was nothing they could do now. Yang just hoped that Oobleck took it easy on her sister, for Ruby's sake if nothing else.

* * *

It had barely been more than a few minutes since they had parted ways from the others to secure the perimeter, and while the ruins of Mountain Glenn did have a certain charm to them, Ruby and Sora quickly became bored with how little there was to do on this patrol. Oobleck was not really much help in avoiding their boredom, or distracting them from the uneasy quietness that they were feeling at the moment, and Aqua was pretty much the same way, even if she was humming a little tune that neither of them could name at the moment, despite how familiar it sounded to Sora. Her humming eventually came to a stop when they reached a small cliff, and it was around the same time that Ruby and Sora's eyes were met with something pretty amazing.

"What is that? It looks awesome," Ruby gasped in a near whisper.

"That, my dear girl, is a Grimm," Oobleck replied.

Sure enough, there, stomping through the distant tree line was a small pack of massive, elephant-like Grimm, growling lowly as they marched. Their animal form easily helped Sora and Ruby to better identify them as Goliaths, and while they had each seen pictures of these giants before, this was the first time either of them had seen a Goliath in person, let alone ones that were as big as these seemed to be. The tops of the tallest trees around these dangerous pachyderms barely even made it past the tops of their legs, and the added height they gained from the spikes on their backs made them seem even more intimidating. When one of them slowly turned in the group's direction, its burning red eyes gave Ruby and Sora the impression that it was liable to charge at any second, but instead, it just stood there for a few moments, until it finally turned away and continued following the others.

Both kids were confused as to why none of these Grimm were moving to attack them, even after one of them had clearly seen them, but they were not complaining, because it gave them ample time to arm up and prepare for battle. "Let's hurry and kill it," Ruby decided, her scythe now ready in its sniper rifle mode.

Oobleck cast that idea off very quickly. "I'm afraid that your sniper rifle will do nothing more than agitate a Grimm of that size, Ruby, and as powerful as they may be, your Keyblade will not do much more than that either, Sora."

"I'm sure I could take 'em," Sora insisted. "Besides, we have to take them out before they can attack us, right?"

"Not necessarily," Aqua disputed. "Just because the Keyblade is powerful enough to destroy a good number of Heartless in one blow, doesn't mean it can destroy everything just as easily, and this would be one such enemy that you would certainly struggle with."

"Besides, you have no reason to fret, Sora. Those Goliaths are not concerned with us," Oobleck assured both the spiky haired boy and Ruby. Seeing that the two students remained unconvinced, Oobleck decided to delve a little deeper into the reason for his lack of concern. "Children, not every Grimm is mindless. Or rather not every Grimm is still mindless. You see, the Grimm you see before you are so powerful, so superior to the Grimm you've each fought up until now that they've undoubtedly lived hundreds of years."

"Hundreds of years," Sora repeated, wondering why no huntsmen have tried to destroy these Grimm before now.

"Yes, and in that time between killing humans and attacking our borders, they've done one important thing: they've learned."

"Learned what," Ruby asked.

"That when they attack our borders, they're likely to die, and what we lack in strength, we make up for in will. And most importantly, that killing one human, will only bring more. Essentially, they've learned that in order to continue surviving, they need to avoid our borders and attacking humans as much as possible."

"If that's the case, then why are they still so close to the city," Ruby pointed out.

"Yeah, what're they still doing here," Sora agreed.

Oobleck answered with only one word. "Waiting."

That simple answer sent more than a few nervous shivers up Ruby and Sora's spines, right to the point where they barely even registered that they had stored their weapons away again after Oobleck and Aqua had moved away. Even after hearing Oobleck's reasoning, Sora was still not so sure that it was smart to leave those Goliaths alone. Aqua must have noticed this, as she was soon pausing in their departure from that cliff so that she could talk with him about it.

"Is something bothering you, Sora," she asked.

"Well…I know that Doctor Oobleck says that we don't need to worry about them, but isn't it the job of huntsmen to destroy Grimm? I mean, they're dangerous, and their darkness is a threat to all of Remnant, so shouldn't we at least try and do something," Sora explained as best he could.

"It's true that the Grimm are dangerous, and that darkness can be dangerous if left unchecked, no matter what form it takes, but at the same time, it can be just as dangerous to fight the darkness, even with light," Aqua answered.

"Huh? How can it be dangerous to fight darkness with light," Sora asked, with Ruby looking just as interested as he was. "I mean, we do that all the time."

"Only when it grows especially strong, like with the Heartless or during any of the schemes that Xehanort had devised over the years," Aqua corrected for him. "In such cases, it is vital that we use our lights to push it back, but if we do so recklessly, we would risk allowing the light to become just as dangerous as the darkness. You can't always fight darkness with light, Sora, no matter how tempting it may be."

"But if we can't use our light to fight it, then how else can we fight against the darkness," Sora inquired, seeing a few flaws in what Aqua was saying. "I know Riku found a way to do so, but does that mean we need to use more darkness to fight against darkness?"

"That is one way, but even that can prove dangerous," Aqua cautioned. "Especially to those who haven't built up an immunity to the dark like Riku has."

"So how do we stop the darkness for good if we can't use light to do it," Sora finally asked.

Hearing that question, Aqua ended up chuckling a little before she said, "You know, despite how long I know it's been, to me, it still feels like it was only a few days ago when I asked someone else that exact same question, and I can only tell you what they told me back then: you may still be too young to know for sure, but if you continue on your journeys and experience more things, in time, you may find your own answer. Just trust in your dreams and in your heart. After all, neither have ever led you very far astray before, so why would they start now?"

Sora would argue about his experiences in the sleeping worlds or more recently, the dilemma he faced before he and Ruby got together, but he knew that Aqua was mainly referring to the times when it mattered most, and she was right to say that Sora's heart had always led him down the right path. Knowing that, Sora could only nod in agreement, and Ruby had to grin a little too, thinking that it was advice that she should take to heart as well in the future. Still, there was at least one other thing that she was curious about.

"Doctor Oobleck," the young, red reaper called out, getting a hum of wonder from her professor. "I was wondering…"

"Why Aqua and I have been interrogating each of your teammates all day," Oobleck guessed before Ruby could finish.

As curious as she was about that, it was not what Ruby wanted to ask. "No, I actually wanted to ask…why you wanted to become a huntsman."

Oobleck had to admit, he had not been expecting to have his question turned around on him like that, and he had to smile a little to show Ruby how impressed he was that she had done so when he replied. "Tell me Ruby, Sora; what do you see when you look around at our current surroundings?"

"Umm…Lots of old buildings…empty streets," Ruby answered a little uncertainly.

Sora was not much better off than her. "I don't know…a lot of destroyed streets and broken stuff…a bunch of plants growing out from the ground in places that they normally wouldn't be…"

Seeing the two struggle to find an answer that may satisfy him, Oobleck finally took pity and gave them his own answer to the question. "I see lives that could've been saved, and dreams that were cut short before they had a chance to be realized," the doctor informed his students. "As a huntsman, it is my job to protect the people, and although I am capable of doing it with traditional weaponry, I believe I can make a much larger difference if I do it with my mind. As a teacher, I am able to take knowledge, the most powerful weapon of them all, and place it into the hands of every student that passes through my classroom. I look at this wasteland and I see lives that could've been saved, but I also see an opportunity. An opportunity to study these ruins and learn from this tragedy, and therefore become stronger." He then turned to his students again, and proudly declared, "I am a huntsman, Ruby and Sora, because there is nothing else in this world, I would rather be, and I believe I am right to assume that the same can be said for you as well in regards to your desire to be a Keyblade master, Master Aqua."

Aqua simply smiled to the professor as she nodded and said, "That would be a pretty accurate guess." Turning to address Ruby and Sora, Aqua then added, "Like Ven said earlier, being a Keyblade master is a dream that he and I have long shared with Terra, but for me, it was not just because of a bond of friendship. I've always wanted to make sure that I could save as many people as I could from falling to darkness, even if it was at the cost of my life. There's always a chance that someone could fall down the wrong path, but I believe that so long as we all hold onto our faith in what's right and in the people closest to us, we can overcome even the greatest darkness, and that is a belief I try my best to share with as many people as I can on every world I travel to. Like Doctor Oobleck, I can see the opportunity to learn how to become better that these ruins present to us, and if I can pass along the knowledge and faith necessary to avoid another tragedy like what happened here, then I believe that not only will I become stronger, but that those around me will as well. Like Doctor Oobleck said, I am a Keyblade master, because there's truly nothing else in this or any world that I would rather be."

Sora and Ruby smiled widely at hearing those answers, feeling very satisfied by the response that they had given, and from there, they proceeded to finish their perimeter patrol in silence, save for Zwei's panting and quiet barks. At least it was quiet, until Ruby decided to ask Aqua about something else she was wondering for a little bit now.

"Hey Aqua, what was that song you were humming just a moment ago," Ruby asked. "It sounded like it was something really pretty."

"It is," Aqua confirmed. "It's actually a song that my mother would sing to me when I had trouble sleeping, a long time ago before Master Eraqus took me in and started training me, when I was really little. Every time I had a nightmare, she would always at least hum that song for me, and after we all came to the Land of Departure, I would sometimes sing it for Ven and Terra for the same reasons." She then smiled a little bashfully as she requested, "Just don't ever tell them I told you about that, please? I kind of promised them I would never say anything about it to anyone."

"Our lips are sealed," Ruby promised, making a zipping motion across her mouth to further prove that.

"It actually reminded me of something I've heard a few times before somewhere," Sora then admitted. "Any chance you could sing a little bit of it for us?"

Aqua was more than happy to grant that request, and the group was soon entranced by the sound of a very beautiful song filling the air via the blue haired Keyblade master's singing voice. "_When you walk away, you don't hear me say, 'please, oh baby~. Don't go~.' Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight~. It's hard to let it go~…_"

* * *

_**AN: [watches as Team JNPR's little run around continues before turning to you and the rest of the audience] Oh, hey guys! Glad to see you're still here, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. And yeah, Jaune's still running in an attempt to avoid playing any of his newly acquired music. I really thought they'd have wrapped this up by now.**_

_**JNPR: [comes running back into the room as Pyrrha makes to grab Jaune]**_

_**Nora: Go for it, Pyrrha! He's all yours!**_

_**Pyrrha: I've got him!**_

_**Nora: [finally stops the funny chase scene music]**_

_**Jaune: No! No!**_

_**Ren: Are you done?**_

_**Jaune: NOOOO!**_

_**Nora: Play one!**_

_**Pyrrha: [taps Jaune's Scroll to start the song]**_

_**[cue "For the First Time in Forever" from Frozen]**_

_**Ren: What in the...?!**_

_**Nora: No! No, no, no! I've already gotten that song stuck in my head for eternity after hearing Weiss sing along to it so much!**_

_**Pyrrha: For the love of Penny! Please don't let that play now!**_

_**Nora: REN! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop!**_

_**Jaune: [stops the song]**_

_**Ren: Why do you have that on your playlist?**_

_**Jaune: Because it's a nice song!**_

_**AN: He's right, you know. As are just about all the songs from Frozen. Now if we're all done being silly, I've got a few things to go over and reviews to answer.**_

_**Ahem, let's start this off with the details from today's chapter. First off, one of the things that I really liked best about the episodes that were featured in this chapter (aside from Zwei) were the speeches that Ozpin and Oobleck gave. There was just something about the way Ozpin spoke when he was talking about Remnant's history and how people refused to let all forms of art die out that really spoke to me. As something of an artist myself, I can really sympathize with those people who refused to let such a great thing die out. These days, it seems like more and more people care about things like sports more than anything else, and forget that things like music, painting, or even just simple writing are just as important for us as human beings as being able to kick/throw around a ball or whatever. That's just my rant on that matter.**_

_**As for Oobleck's speech to Ruby (or in this case, Ruby and Sora), I feel like it's a vital lesson that everyone learns at one point or another: that we should always pursue something because it's what we love it so much. More often than not, you see people doing jobs that they don't like or straight up hate, but still take on because they don't have anything else to do. Sure, that can mostly be applied to high school kids, or people who work in fast-food, but there are those of us who take on high-paying, important jobs who would rather be doing something else. Sure, sometimes that work can be enjoyable, but if we're not truly enjoying it because we love it a lot, then what's the point? As Walt Disney once said, "Most of my life I have done what I wanted to. I have fun on the job." That's something we should all look for in whatever career we pursue, and it's something I like to think that I'm doing by continuing to write and continuing on with the jobs that I have in addition to my writing work.**_

_**Jaune: Whoa. That's actually kind of inspirational.**_

_**AN: Thank you, and the same could be said for those two speeches, hence the reason why I did not try to change them too much. When something is already that good, it's hard to find a way to reword it.**_

_**Now, on other matters, let's talk the meeting that went down between Ruby, Sora, and the big dogs of teachers. Yeah, Aqua really let Ironwood have it this time, didn't she? I mean, come on, even I know that kind of thing, and I'm the farthest thing from any kind of military figure you can get, so why would Ironwood, a general, be so hasty to go and try plans like what he was suggesting? Sure, I get that Salem's bad news, but seriously? If the events of Volume 3 are any indication, Ironwood would've been more likely to play right into Cinder's hands a lot sooner if they went with his plan at the end of Volume 2. Plus, having Luxu/Xigbar/Braig/The-Dude-Who-Has-Too-Many-Names-Now being there made Ruby and Sora's little fib about how they learned about the base in the Southeast all the more believable, so you have to actually...th-thank...the bad guys for that. [grunts] I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. And I feel like I need a shower. Or five.**_

_**In regards to Zwei's arrival...Yeah, not much to say there. Honestly, how much explanation do you really need to explain away the cool/adorable that is Zwei.**_

_**Ruby: How about in regards to Yang training him to judge my boyfriends?**_

_**AN: Oh, right that. Well, I just thought it'd be a funny little thing to add in, plus it also helped to explain away the reasoning for certain things that would happen later on, like Zwei's part in a certain train battle.**_

_**Lea: Not to mention that it also helped you to bring up the matter of our magic pockets.**_

_**AN: Hey, it's not like I'm the first one to do that. Besides, it's a legit bit of reasoning when you think about it, given that you can actually carry around tents in the big Kingdom Hearts games and none of the crew has a backpack of any kind that would explain how they could carry them.**_

_**Speaking of stuff that gets some attention, Team SLVR has finally met the other members of Team CFVY at last, and it looks like they're all pretty cool with one another. Then again, when you're already cool with both Coco and Velvet, I guess it's only natural that the rest would follow soon after. And yeah, Yatsuhashi challenged the guys to a sword battle. Whether or not we see that happen later on remains to be seen, but it would be pretty cool to see it happening, right?**_

_**Moving on to the last bit of detailing to address. No, Teams RWBY and SLVR did not get the same mission, technically, but they did all end up at Mountain Glenn regardless. And yeah, you can now consider Aqua's cover as a professional huntress completely solidified with license and everything. Plus, Aqua also offered some wisdom of her own when she and Oobleck brought Ruby and Sora to see the Goliaths, before singing a little bit of good ol' "Simple and Clean" for everyone. Pretty nice way to wrap things up, wouldn't you say?**_

_**Sora: Yep. Now that's a song that can really take you back to some good times, now matter how many different games is been used in, or how many versions of it has been made.**_

_**AN: And look at that, Yang, Blake, and Weiss weren't the only ones to have their reasonings for their choice of profession questioned. 3/4s of Team SLVR was as well. I suppose some of you may be wondering why Aqua and Oobleck did not question Sora too, but his reasons for being a Keyblade wielder are pretty obvious, even though he was not technically chosen for it, or have much choice in the matter. Much like Ruby's reasons for wanting to be a huntress. As it has been stated before, Ruby and Sora are pretty much cut from the same cloth, so why question him on that stuff.**_

_**Speaking of that bit of questioning, I was originally going to have all of the matters surrounding that wrapped up in this chapter as well, but honestly, I figured it would be better to wrap things up where we did today, so it'll have to wait until next chapter before we see the heart-to-heart those six will be having.**_

_**Also, a little fun-fact for you all, in case you didn't already know, that bit Roxas mentioned about the Dusks drawing on his face while he was sleeping was an actual thing that happened in the Kingdom Hearts manga. Well, the 358/2 Days manga, anyway, but you get the idea. I just had to bring that up for the sake of additional humor.**_

_**Now moving onto the reviews, let's begin with a review that was repeated from last chapter as a little reminder of the fact we were unable to answer before. Namely, the review of "Disney24601". Ruby, start us off will you?  
**_

_**Ruby: Of course. Let's see, favorite Disney movie...I'd have to go with Bolt and One Hundred and One Dalmatians. There were just so many puppies! So cute! Favorite song..."You'll Be In My Heart", and my favorite of the KH games would have to be Kingdom Hearts 2 and Kingdom Hearts 3.**_

_**Weiss: Hmm, I'd say that my answer for the first question is tied between Mulan and Frozen, favorite song would be "Let It Go" and "Reflection", and my favorite game would have to be Birth By Sleep.**_

_**Blake: Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King (the classic animated version), "Everybody Wants to Be A Cat" (because it's true and we all know it) and "Belle", and my favorite game would probably be...358/2 Days. [notices everyone staring at her weirdly] What? I really like the story, and I can kind of identify with Roxas and Xion a little.**_

_**Yang: Okay, so...My favorites would have to be Mulan and The Love Bug, 'cause Herbie's one awesome car. Favorite song, "Friend Like Me" (both movie versions), and my favorite game would have to be the same as Ruby's.**_

_**Jaune: Hercules, definitely. Favorite song would have to be "Go the Distance" and "Zero to Hero". And my favorite game...I have to admit, I'm kinda tied between the big three of KH1, 2, and 3.**_

_**Pyrrha: There's so many to choose from, but I would have to say that Hercules and Mulan are my favorites. Favorite song would be Lesson Number 1 and Like Other Girls. And my favorite Kingdom Hearts Game would have to be either Birth By Sleep or Dream Drop Distance.**_

_**Nora: Mine are The Jungle Book, "Hakuna Matata", and Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts 3, cause you can turn the Keyblade into a hammer in that one!**_

_**Ren: [playfully eye rolls at Nora] Big Hero 6 and Toy Story would my favorite movies. "Make a Man Out of You" and "He Lives in You" for songs. Favorite games would definitely be Kingdom Hearts 1 and Birth By Sleep.**_

_**Sun: Favorite movie's gotta be Tarzan, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Robin Hood. Song, "Why Should I Worry" and "You've Got a Friend in Me". Games, I've gotta say Dream Drop Distance and KH3.**_

_**Neptune: I'd have to say my movie would have to be Monsters Inc.. Song, well, I have to agree with Sun's pick, and also "Streets of Gold". Game is definitely Birth By Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 3.**_

_**Velvet: If I had to pick just one movie, I'd probably say Zootopia. My favorite song would definitely be "You've Got a Friend in Me". And as for my favorite game...well, I'd probably say Kingdom Hearts 3 and 2.**_

_**AN: Wow. Nobody said Chain of Memories.**_

_**Sora: Like that's surprising? No one likes the combat system for that game, and most people only play through it because they want to be a completionist or something like that and don't want to skip over it.**_

_**Lea: I didn't even know you knew what it means to be a completionist, Sora.**_

_**Sora: Ha, ha, ha.**_

_**AN: Moving on with our next review answer...let's see...hmm...Oh! How about "cbustroyer"? First off, let me just say that my knowledge of weapons usually stops at the bare basics of stuff. Meaning things like rifle, sniper, handgun, etc, so sorry for not knowing that little bit about Magnums or whatever, but you can't really blame me for that...entirely. Also, don't worry. I've been thinking things over on other reasons for Oscar to leave home and venture out without Ozpin showing up in his head. It may even end up being a whole chapter that tells of what's happening with him and Kairi while everything else is going on with the main cast, so I hope that alleviates your worries a little bit. As for the matter of Ozpin fusing with Qrow, it's weird because it'd be awkward for Yang and Ruby once they find out the truth about Salem. Plus, that moment in Volume 6 when they found out, namely Qrow's reaction, wouldn't really be possible or have as much impact if he was sharing a body with Ozpin if you really think about it. If anyone deserved to give Ozpin a hard knuckle sandwich, it was definitely Qrow. Btw, my studio is capable of likely being able to kill Deadpool, and I have Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange on speed dial. You really think I'm worried about Chaos Magic?**_

_**"Spiderfan626", my good friend, hope you enjoyed Team SLVR's reactions to Zwei and how he arrived at Beacon. Also, it's going to be a pretty long time before Sora or anyone else realizes that Xigbar has moved up in the world to being a major big bad as opposed to a cryptic, annoying underling.**_

_**Xigbar/Luxu: Hey!**_

_**AN: And also, thanks for that little idea you gave me regarding Ven's reaction to Weiss's reaction over Zwei, even if it wasn't put in word for word.**_

_**"Monkey D. Conan", some of the couples are now official, yes, but there may still be a little bit of lingering doubt before they're official-official. Don't worry though. The next arc will get everything cemented in stone for all of them. I'd like to think that Yang's going to get in a fair bit of teasing on Windchill RoseHeart, but they will likely retaliate with some teasing to her over Golden Flame. As for how long it'll be before we get a full reveal on who the new Princess of Heart is...well, I'd be ready to only get the official confirmation by the time we reach some point in RWBY Volume 3.**_

_**To the "Guest" of 10/30/2019, to be perfectly honest...Ehehe...I may or may not have kinda, sorta...completely forgot about Isa for a little bit. In my defense though, just about all of the main focus heroes in Kingdom Hearts have Keyblades, and I really don't see Isa of all people getting one of those any time soon. Sure, Lea got one, but Isa? Psh! No way in any lifetime is that ever gonna happen...Though now that I think about it, I guess it could be a little interesting...Maybe...**_

_**"Anonymaton", glad you enjoyed so much of the last chapter, and especially the dance. As for your side question, we actually haven't had a chance to check out Lizz Robinett's KH lyrics yet, but we will be looking into that later on.**_

_**Moving right along to "Dragon Rider 66", thanks for all the compliments, and allow me to elaborate on a few of the curiosities you mentioned. In regards to Sora not recognizing Xigbar by his voice, well, two voices can sound very similar to one another, but the words spoken and how they speak can sound completely different. In my mind, Luxu talks a lot differently from Xigbar most of the time, so I'm kind of hoping that came across when I wrote those moments last chapter when he actually did speak. As for that suggestion you made about Kairi making a cameo appearance like you had in mind, I honestly had not thought of doing that until you said something. Like, I literally slapped myself in the face for missing out on that opportunity, but I will be using it later on for the end of another chapter in which Sora and Ruby share another special moment. No spoilers beyond that though.**_

_**"Hamm1999", honestly, no I was not thinking of "Friend Like Me" when I was writing the previous chapter. It was mostly songs that were slower, more heartfelt, and in certain cases, held a very romantic sense to them.**_

_**My next response is to "Helljumper206". I can honestly say...It's a bit of a mystery to me too, sometimes. I don't really try that hard; I just go with the flow, and if I do make any mistakes, I try to go back and fix them ASAP.**_

_**"CT7567Rules", regarding your question about Xion's dress, I didn't really draw too much basis for it. I just tried picturing something that I figured Xion would look cute in that would also accentuate her natural personality. And I'm with you on hoping Jacques and Whitley get what's coming to them in Volume 7. I honestly don't think I can wait if it gets put off until the next volume.**_

_**"Alby199800", don't worry. Windchill is going to live for quite a long time, regardless of whether or not Luxu has plans for Ventus.**_

_**Ruby: Oh, and by the way, everyone who wished me a happy birthday, early or otherwise last chapter, thanks so much! You guys are the best! Oh, and "Spiderfan626", thanks for the cookie. It was really delicious.**_

_**AN: Also, for anyone who's wondering, yeah, I have seen the first episode of Volume 7 now, and without going into detail or spoilers for anyone who hasn't yet for one reason or another...It was awesome! I seriously came close to jumping out of my seat at one certain point of the episode (if you've seen it, I'm sure you can all guess which part I'm talking about), and I'd say that this is a sign of Volume 7 being off to a great start. Not to mention that new theme song! Wow! Here's hoping everything that comes next and afterwards in this volume is just as good.**_

_**Now, I think that covers everything. Everything except our usual sneak peak into what comes next that is. So, what're we waiting for? Onto the Preview!...**_

_**Yang, Blake, and Weiss exchange a little heart-to-heart along with Lea, Roxas, and Ventus about what they truly want from their respective professions, but that may be the only good thing that happens on their first night at Mountain Glenn. At some point later on into the night, Ruby and Sora find themselves stumbling upon Roman Torchwick's base of operations, and despite being captured, the two manage to find a few clues on what the endgame seems to be. Too bad for them that it's already on track, and heading straight for Vale. The moment that Teams RWBY and SLVR have trained for is here, and it starts with derailing some villainous plans, next time.**_

_**Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy.**_


	14. On and Off the Rails

_**AN: Look, I'm just saying, emphasis on **_**saying_, maybe it wouldn't hurt for you to consider trying a few different weapons out, at least in this story. I mean, it's obvious that you're good with your scythe, but you can't seriously expect us to believe that you don't have some experience using other weapons. I mean, we all saw you using one of Penny's swords pretty well in Volume 3._**

**_Ruby: It was only for a few minutes, and I barely even did that much with it. Besides, why would I use anything other than my beautiful Crescent Rose? [smiles all giddy-like while a thought bubble of said scythe appears above her head]_**

**_AN: I don't know. Ask any of the writers on fanfiction that have given you a Keyblade in their stories. I mean, I get why they would do it, but I'm not sure you do, so that's why I'm telling you to ask them._**

**_Ruby: [thought bubble pops, while she growls in annoyance]_**

**_AN: Besides, again, you've admitted to being really into all the different types of weapons, so maybe you could at least consider being in a scene later on in this story where you try out a bunch of different ones, or at least show how good you are with them? We've already implied that you're going to show off how good you are with a sword in an earlier chapter, so..._**

**_Ruby: Hey, showing how good I am with a sword is one thing. Uncle Qrow actually taught me how to use swords when he was training me._**

**_AN: So are you saying that you can't use any weapon besides your scythe and a sword?_**

**_Ruby: I never said that._**

**_AN: Then I guess we can showcase that in a later chapter of the story._**

**_Ruby: I never said _that_ either! Oh, and I think your readers/followers/fans are here._**

**_AN: Nice try, Ruby. Like I'm really gonna fall for that...[looks to see you and everyone else reading this have arrived] Oh, you're not joking! They are here! Uh...To be continued at a later time. Ahem! Hey, everybody and welcome back to Remnant of the Key, for our newest chapter!_**

**_[audience applause]_**

**_Yeah that's right. Show us some love. You know you were eagerly awaiting this, but I'm sure that eagerness is nothing compared to how excited you all are for some of the other surprises we may or may not have in store for the story later on down the line._**

**_Ruby: Ooooh! Like what?! Like what?! Tell us, tell us, tell us, tell us!_**

**_AN: Sorry Ruby, but I'm not giving away any spoilers. [sees Ruby frowning and grumbling again, and thus pulls out the perfect cure for that] Cookie?_**

**_Ruby: [brightens up instantly] Gimme please! _**

**_AN: [allows the plate of cookies to be swiped away while Ruby inhales them] Hehe, works every time._**

**_Jaune: Come on. Can't you at least tell them that the next time Riku shows up it will be during..._**

**_AN: DAH! SPOILER! [hits the button]_**

**_Jaune: [suddenly has his leg snagged by a web-line, and is then pulled upside down so that he's eventually hanging from the ceiling, and tied up in a web by Spider-Man] Whoa! Not again! Why do I always get stuck up in high places?!_**

**_AN: [looks curiously at Spider-Man for a minute] Wait, wasn't that the fish bomb button?_**

**_Ruby: [with her mouth full of cookies] Fish bomb button?_**

**_AN: Yeah. It's a button that would've dumped a bunch of fish onto him to the point where it would've drawn Blake in so that she could go crazy in trying to get said fish from Jaune._**

**_Ruby: [swallows recent mouthful] Do you really think that would've worked that well on Blake?_**

_**AN: You tell me! She's your teammate. More importantly, what is Spider-Man even doing here? I thought he was upstairs doing some rehearsals with Lightning Farron and the rest of the cast from A Spider's Focus. Or with the cast of Hearts of Avengers. Or with the cast from the Code Avengers Series. Or with the cast of Avenging Normandy. Or the cast of Justice Marvel. Or with...Wow, I know I shouldn't be too surprised by this, but it's only just now that I've really come to realize that Spidey's in a **_**lot_ of my stories._**

**_Spidey: Hey, yeah, I know I'm not supposed to be in here right now, but I was actually just swinging around here looking for the kitchen. We ran out of pizza and other snacks, and I drew the short straw to get more._**

**_AN: Just a little further down the hall, take the second stairwell down one level, and it'll be the second door on the right._**

**_Spidey: Thanks lyoko Prime._**

**_AN: Don't mention it. [waits to watch Spidey leave for a minute] Okay, so, now that we've got all that cleared up, how about we get today's chapter started, shall we?_**

**_Ruby: Um, don't you want to answer some reviews first?_**

**_Jaune: Or how about getting me down from here?!_**

**_AN: Yeah, I'm thinking that we answer reviews at the end of the chapters from now on. Less clutter at these starting notes, and more space for these funny little skits. Now then, with nothing else to address..._**

**_Jaune: I'M STILL UP HERE!_**

**_AN: ...Let's get this show on the road! Or should I say, get the show on the railroad? Eh? Eh? Am I right?...Guys?_**

**_Everyone other than AN, Yang, & Jaune: [deadpan looks for the terrible, Yang-level pun]_**

**_Yang: [grins a little with a thumb's-up] Nice one! _**

**_AN: [sighs a little at how Yang was the only one who liked the joke] Just run the disclaimer and start this thing._**

**_I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story._**

* * *

**Chapter 14: On and Off the Rails**

A rather somber mood was in the air that night after our heroes had set up camp, but not all of it was due to how they had been unable to find anything. Oobleck and Aqua's questioning had stuck with the members of the group who had been on the receiving end of it. Ever since they had been asked those big questions, there was this odd weight on their minds that they could not shake, telling them that the teacher and Keyblade master knew that they were holding something back in their answers as well, while at the same time, were looking for something else in their answers as well. The only thing that made it more confusing was that Ruby and Sora had not been asked about their reasons for wanting to become a huntress and Keyblade master as well, but before any of them could ask the couple about it, they had already moved to take the first watch of the night while biding their friends good night.

Afterwards, the group had all eaten their small, packed diners and crawled into their sleeping bags, thinking that a good night's sleep might help them to get over the whole thing. Unfortunately, the whole matter was just too well burrowed into their minds that they could not conceive even a second of nodding off, let alone sleep. Just what was it that made Sora and Ruby different from the rest of them, and why did Aqua and Oobleck really question their reasons for wanting to be a huntress or Keyblade master? It just did not make sense in any of their minds, and as a result, it kept them all awake for quite a few hours. The only consolation was that Ruby and Sora were not using their time on watch-duty to flirt with each other because they thought everyone else was asleep, because they had a hunch that the two would have been far too lovey-dovey for them to really get any sleep.

Eventually, Yang was the one who broke the silence that until that point was only disturbed by the camp fire that the two teams were gathered around. "Hey Blake, are you awake," Yang quietly asked.

"…Yeah," Blake admitted, not wanting to even bother pretending she had been asleep.

"Why do you think Doctor Oobleck asked us about being a huntress," Yang asked. "Like, what was he trying to say?"

"I don't know. Maybe he was just curious," Blake offered.

"You think?"

"…No."

Yang sighed in response to that hesitant answer, glad that at the very least, she had confirmed she was not the only one who thought that Oobleck was aiming for something deeper when he had questioned them on that. Still, she had to check if that was the case for all of them, and looked over to her redhead friend. "Lea? Are you awake?"

"I'm pretty sure none of us have ever managed to get to sleep," Lea confessed.

"Why do you think Aqua and Oobleck were asking you guys about being Keyblade masters, or wielders," Yang asked.

"…I'm not sure. I want to believe that they were just curious, but I doubt it was just that," Lea shrugged.

"Yeah, guess that confirms we're all in the same boat there," Yang muttered before she turned to her other teammate. "Weiss? Are you awake?"

"Of course I'm awake! We're all being kept awake by you all talking," Weiss snipped in response, prompting Yang to roll her eyes at that answer, while Ventus and Roxas both just sat up to silently confirm she was not entirely wrong. "And I think they…that they knew something about our answers. Like how we weren't all being entirely truthful. Or at least that I wasn't," she then admitted in a softer tone than before.

"Meaning what," Ventus prompted. He had a good hunch about Weiss's meaning, but he felt that it would be better for her if she said it herself.

"Well, when I said I wanted to honor my family's name, I meant it, you know that Ven," Weiss started off, giving Ven a meaningful glance to show she was glad to see he was letting her get this all out there. "But it's not what you guys think. I'm not so stupid that I'm don't know what my father has done with my family's company. I'm fully aware that the Schnee Dust Company has operated in a…moral grey area ever since he took control."

"That's putting it lightly," Blake remarked on reflex.

Even though the cat Faunus's remark got a rise out of Weiss, she did not let it get to her too much. She did still begin the next part of her little speech with a bit of a bite in her tone though. "Which is why I feel the need to make things right! If I had taken a job in Atlas, nothing would've changed. My father was not the start of our name, and I refuse to let him be the end of it, whatever it takes."

"Huh. I know you're not too fond of talking about your family beyond the obvious, but I never woulda guessed you had daddy issues like that," Lea attempted to joke.

"Not the time, man," Ventus admonished.

"Sorry."

"I would've been more worried if you had not said anything like that," Weiss attempted to joke, but it ended up falling flat for the moment.

"Hey, I'm just glad to know that you're willing to fight for a chance to make things right," Blake told the heiress, taking over the conversation afterwards. "All of my life, I fought for what I believed was right. I had a partner named Adam…well, more of a mentor, actually, and he always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place. It wasn't until much later on that I realized his idea of a perfect future, turned out to be…not perfect for everyone."

"I'm guessing that he's the new, radical, more violent leader or something," Roxas figured, making sure to tread carefully in what he said in case Oobleck was still awake. He did not think it would be a problem if Aqua found out about Blake's past, but he did not want to just blurt it out for anyone to hear right now if they were not already aware.

"No, but he is a strong figure head in the group," Blake corrected before continuing with her story. "When I joined the academy, it was because I knew huntsmen and huntresses were regarded as the noble warriors in the world…well, in this world, anyway, and that they always fought for good, but I never really thought much about what would come after joining. When I do leave the academy, I don't what I'm going to do next. How can I possibly undo so many years of hate?"

"Just because it's hard, doesn't mean it's impossible to make up for your mistakes," Lea assured the girl.

"Yeah, if anyone can figure it out, it's you," Yang agreed. "You're not one to back down from a challenge, Blake."

"But I am! I do it all the time," Blake argued a second later. "When you all learned I was a Faunus, I didn't know what to do, so I ran. When I realized that my oldest partner had become a monster, I ran! Even my Semblance it's proof of that. I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself; an empty copy that takes the hit while I run away."

"Only to strike back when things are more in your favor," Ventus added on before Blake could put herself down further. "Not every fight is won by just attacking head on. Sometimes, you need to know when to make a quick retreat so you can come back stronger."

"It doesn't change how I always go for the easy option of just running from my problems," Blake disputed.

"Maybe, but at least you and Weiss have something that drives you guys, be it in your reasons to become huntresses or as people," Yang disputed with a rare, sad tone in her voice that caught everyone's notice. "Me, I've always just kind of gone with the flow, and that's fine. I mean, that's just who I am, but how long can I really do that for? I wanna be a huntress not really because I wanna be a hero, but because I want the adventure. I want a life where I won't know what tomorrow will bring, and that'll be a good thing. Being a huntress just happens to line up with that. I mean, I guess being a Keyblade wielder would too, but that doesn't really seem like something that's in the cards for me."

"Just going with the flow isn't always a good thing," Roxas told her; not knowing it was now his turn to share. "All of my life, regardless of how short it's been so far, being a Keyblade wielder has really been all that I know. Sure, I've done some other stuff; I've made friends, got a great girl, and lived a peaceful life away from fighting monsters, but even after that little bit of peace, I ended up just being pulled right back into the world of Keyblades, monsters, and magic. Even though I always say that I'm me and not anyone else, there are still days where it feels like I'm just living a copy of my original self's life. I don't mind being able to help others and stop darkness from spreading, but I want to know what else there is for me to pursue, you know? Maybe I should just stop and live a normal life if possible, and that would be a good thing. But at the same time, I can't help but feel that I can do more. If anything, I'm still being a Keyblade wielder because I want to figure out what I can do now that I truly exist as my own person, and just what my real purpose could be now."

The others had to admit, it was nice to hear that Roxas wanted a chance at a normal life, but they also felt bad for him since it seemed like he was not likely to get it so long as he wielded the Keyblade. The only thing that made them feel for him a little more was that he desired nothing more than to find a purpose for himself beyond just the responsibilities as a Keyblade wielder. Ventus on the other hand had his own opinions on the matter.

"Are you sure you really want to know about that though," Ven asked of his look-a-like. "What if you find your purpose and it ends up being something that takes you away from everything you care about? Would it really be worth it?"

"No…I don't know," Roxas hesitantly huffed. "Would that really matter?"

"It does to me," Ventus admitted. "I've always said that being a Keyblade master is my dream, but it's not just because my best friends share that dream. It's more than that. Ever since I lost the memories of my past, I've felt like becoming a Keyblade master might somehow help me find the answers to questions that I've been looking for. Things like what happened to my parents, if I even have any other family out there, even how or why I became a Keyblade wielder in the first place. I've wondered about those things and more for so long now."

"Anyone in your position would, Ven," Weiss reassured him.

"But at the same time, I'm scared of what will happen when I do find those answers," Ventus continued on. "Every time I ask myself about that stuff, I'm always left wondering what will happen if or when I find out about it. I've built a life for myself, found friends and family all on my own….People I love. I don't want to lose any of that, but I feel like I just can't ignore how badly I want to solve the mystery of my past, so how can I really expect to fulfill my dream of becoming a Keyblade master if I'm too scared of what will happen after the fact?"

"No one really knows what's going to come after you reach a goal, Ven. Sometimes it's just a simple matter of finding a new one, and other times it's just settling for what you managed to gain along the way and being happy. The only one who really knows where to go from there is you," Lea stated, imparting some of his rare bits of wisdom when he did. Of course, it was not long before he realized he had not finished with his catchphrase, and smoothly added, "Got it memorized?"

Hearing him throw out his go-to line brought smiles to the others for a brief second, and Roxas even let out a half-chuckle as he said, "You always seem to know just what to say to make everyone feel better, don't you Axel?"

Roxas's comment ended up bringing the previous mood back, but more because it had made Lea let out a sad sounding sigh and admit, "Maybe for everyone else, but sometimes, it's hard to follow your own advice."

"Meaning what," Yang asked.

"I never really thought about becoming a Keyblade wielder until just a short time ago, and I wasn't even sure if I could become one until the thing finally popped into my hand," Lea confessed. "Besides that, I only went to Yen Sid and the others to get trained up as one so I could be the hero and save my friends. You guys know what happened next. I got all trained up, went to the Keyblade Graveyard with the other Guardians of Light, ended up getting trounced by Xemnas and Saïx, and barely even had to do all that much to get most of my friends back. Either way, mission accomplished, even if I do feel like I barely did that much to make it happen, save for clobbering Saïx until he was knocked back to his senses and became Isa again. Now, I'm not entirely sure what I want to do. Sure, I'm always gonna be there to protect my friends and bring them back if anything happens to them, but what else is there for me to do? It's not like I have any real reason to keep being a Keyblade wielder like the rest of you."

"What about that friend of yours and Isa's," Roxas asked, earning him an odd look from Lea. "I overheard you two talking about her one time. Someone you two knew back in Radiant Garden that you met after sneaking into the castle a few times."

"Yeah, and we became Ansem the Wise's apprentices thinking we could rescue her, and look how well that turned out. One day she was gone, and the next thing you know, Ansem had up and vanished, and then me and Isa had become Nobodies, doing all the icky jobs for Xemnas," Lea filled in with no shortage of bitterness. "The big reason why we never really complained too much was because we figured that doing those jobs would help us find her, but we still failed."

"…So this girl you two were looking for…Is she…special to you," Yang asked, a creeping feeling of jealousy forming in the pit of her stomach.

"If that's your way of asking if she's more than just a friend to either of us, then no, it's not like that. She's just a really good friend we made one day after sneaking into the castle," Lea assured the blonde. "Despite how far up the ranks Isa rose as Saïx, he was still unable to find any trace of her again."

"Well, maybe your job's not done then. You've still got one friend left to save," Blake offered.

"And I don't have a clue where to look," Lea pointed out.

"Didn't stop you from trying to save me and Xion," Roxas reminded him.

"Maybe, but if she knew what Isa and I have done to try and find her, I'm sure she'd be disgusted with us both," Lea pointed out. "I'm not saying that I don't intend to try and get her back, but that still doesn't help answer my question: what else am I gonna do and why should I keep being a Keyblade wielder? I've got nothing else besides rescuing my friends and making sure to protect them, but it still feels like that's just not enough. I know it sounds selfish, but I'd kinda like to have a reason that's just for me."

"I don't think it's selfish to want something for yourself every now and then, but I do get what you're saying. It's tough to really know for sure what you really want," Yang assured him, with the others all nodding in agreement. She then looked over to her sister and said sister's boyfriend, as she added, "Sometimes, I wish I was like Ruby. She's always wanted to be a huntress, and all for the very reason that she's always said. Ever since she was a kid, she dreamt about being the heroes in the books. Always helping people and saving the day, and never asking for anything in return. Even when she couldn't fight, she knew that's what she wanted to be, and from what I can tell, Sora's pretty much the same way."

"I don't know about that. Sora never wanted any of this Keyblade stuff," Roxas told her. "The only thing he'd ever dreamed of was a chance to visit other worlds with his friends. At first it was just for the thrill of a real adventure, but then it became a quest to help a friend find their home again."

"Hey, even if he didn't ask for it, he hasn't exactly made any attempts to give it up," Lea pointed out. "When he finally did lose the Keyblade, he kept on going in his journey to save his friends and all the worlds when he could've just as easily walked away. I mean, I get why he didn't, considering where the Keyblade had ended up at the time, but still…"

"But he's always been that way. Always helping other people without a second thought or care for his own well-being," Ventus pointed out. "He cares so much about others, whether they're his friends, someone he only just became friends with, or even just a total stranger that it really seems to hurt him when he can't do something to help. That's just who he is, and that's why he's taken his training so seriously after what happened at the Keyblade Graveyard."

"Yeah, Ruby's pretty much the same. She's trained so hard to get where she is today, and it definitely shows," Yang smiled as she glanced at her sister.

"Well, it's not like they're that incredible. They are still just kids," Weiss pointed out, though her argument sounded half-hearted even to her.

"Ruby's only two years younger," Blake countered as she sat up so that she could better speak with the others. "I can't really say for sure about whether or not the same can be said for Sora."

"He's actually a year older than Ruby, I think," Roxas answered for her. "I'm pretty sure his birthday had come and gone by the time we had all enrolled at Beacon, so he's now sixteen."

"Either way, he's not that much younger than us, and we're all still kids," Blake continued on.

"I don't really think any of us can say that we are now," Lea stated. "I mean, look at where we are and what some of us have been through. Me and the boys here have fought in more life and death battles than we should probably care to remember, and even fought in an honest to Kingdom Hearts war! That's gotta count for something."

"He's right," Yang agreed. "And now, we're all armed to the teeth in the middle of a warzone."

"It's the life we chose," Blake shrugged.

"It's a _job_; both being a huntress and being a Keyblade wielder," Weiss corrected. "We all had one reason or another to have a romanticized vision of being a huntress or Keyblade master in our heads, but at the end of the day, they're both important jobs to protect the people."

"Protect the people, and defend the balance between light and darkness in whatever way that we can, in our case," Roxas reasoned out.

"Regardless of what responsibilities we have, in the end, our own desires will have to come second, because keeping others safe is more important than anything else," Lea finished. "Guess we'd all better get it memorized, huh?"

"I think we already have," Yang grinned, looking a little more like her usual self now, and the others all smiled a little bit more right along with her to show they agreed.

With all of that now out of their systems, the six had no more trouble in getting to sleep when they lay back down again; though, the fact that they also felt a little emotionally drained may have had something to do with that too. What none of them realized was that Aqua and Oobleck had both heard every word that had passed between the six, and they were both now smiling proudly over how the kids had figured out such an important lesson.

* * *

It was just a few hours later when it finally became Ruby and Sora's turn to get some sleep while someone else kept watch, and when it did, despite all the energy they had earlier when they were on duty, the two had both fallen asleep the second they had crawled into their sleeping bags. Not only that, but when his master had gone to bed, Zwei had decided to do the same, snuggling up close to Ruby like he was a little tired kitten instead of a dog. At least that was the case, until a short time later when Zwei suddenly perked up, disturbing Ruby from her sleep when he did. Sora on the other hand continued to snooze the night away, only just barely making out what Ruby had told her dog in her still sleep addled state, but he was soon a little more awake when the girl accidentally nudged her foot against him for some reason.

"Huh? Wha…? Ruby, what is it," Sora muttered as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes for a second, but he became a little more aware when his only answer was silence. "Ruby," Sora quietly called out while looking around. "Ruby? Where'd you go?"

It did not take long for Sora to realize that Ruby, her scythe, and Zwei were all missing from the camp, so it was not that much harder for him to figure out what could have happened. Sora took even less time crawling out of bed so that he could go and find them as well, thanking his lucky stars that no one else had been stirred awake along with him. His luck continued to prove good when he got down the stairs of the building they were camped out in and spotted a red cloak lightly flapping in the wind, and he quickly came up behind the person wearing it.

Since she was so preoccupied with gazing around at what was right outside the doorway, the girl had no idea that Sora was coming up behind her, until Sora had gotten close enough to tap her shoulder, making her let out a cute little, frightened, "Eep!"

"Shh! Quiet! You'll wake up the others," Sora hushed after clamping his hand over Ruby's mouth.

"Well what do you think is going to happen when you sneak up on me like that," Ruby whispered back to him.

"Sorry, sorry. I'll admit, that was my bad," Sora conceded. "More importantly, what're you doing up at this time of night?"

"I'm trying to find Zwei. He just took off all of a sudden," Ruby quickly told him before turning to start looking for her dog again.

Sora likely would have rushed out to do a better search, had he not managed to spot the corgi in question just seconds after looking out the door again. "I don't think we have too much to worry about," Sora assured Ruby with a smile as he pointed to where her dog was.

"Huh," Ruby asked, only to sigh out of relief when she saw Zwei taking care of his business by an old beam sticking out of the ground. "Are you kidding me, Zwei," Ruby asked as she walked over to her dog once he had finished. "This is a wasteland. You literally could've done that anywhere."

"Hey, better out here than in the middle of the camp. I don't think any of us would've been too fond of waking up to that smell in the morning," Sora defended as he knelt down to the corgi. "You were just being a considerate, good boy, weren't you, Zwei?"

Zwei barked in affirmative to Sora's question, earning both him and the boy a short giggle from Ruby, but they all went quiet when they heard another voice speaking up that was definitely not theirs or any of their teammates'. Looking to where the speaker was, Sora and Ruby both had to keep themselves from gasping out loud as they ducked behind a wall, the latter scooping Zwei up into her arms as she went. The reason for their sudden distress: a pair of White Fang soldiers patrolling the area just a mere few feet away from them.

"What's with you," one of the two soldiers asked of his partner.

"I thought I heard something. Sounded like barking," the other soldier explained as he scanned the area.

Ruby and Sora planted themselves flat against the wall they were hiding behind, holding their breath in the hopes that they would not be seen, until finally, they heard the first soldier speak up again. "You're probably imagining things," the first soldier remarked.

"Well can you blame me? We ran into a ton of Beowolves almost the exact second we got here, so excuse me if I want to be a little cautious," the second soldier said.

"Whatever. Let's just finish our patrol and get back to base," the first suggested.

"Yeah, okay. This place gives me the creeps anyway."

The two soldiers then turned and started moving away, prompting Ruby and Sora to finally release their breath, albeit as quietly as they could. Seeing the opportunity this presented, Sora was quick to come up with a plan of action. One that he was more than happy to share with his girlfriend. "Okay, you hurry back up to the camp and tell the others. I'll follow them and see where they go. Just have Aqua and the others follow the tracking signal in my Gummiwatch, but make sure to tell them not to get too close to my position," Sora told Ruby while keeping his eyes locked on the retreating White Fang members.

Instead of the eager affirmative he had been expecting, Sora was once again met with silence, much to his confusion. "Ruby," Sora asked as he turned to where the girl should have been, only to find she was not there. "Oh don't tell me," Sora quietly pleaded as he turned back to where the White Fang soldiers were. His request was refused, as he easily spotted Ruby sneakily trailing after the Faunus terrorists with Zwei, much to his dismay. "Ruby," he hissed after her as loudly as he dared, but she was already too far away to have heard him, so he had no choice but to follow. "Wait, Ruby!"

Now Ruby would be the first to admit that she was not all that sneaky, at least if you were to compare to someone like say Blake, but that did not mean she did not know a few things about how to stealthily follow a target without being seen. The fact that she and her team were able to follow Team SLVR all the way to their stealth gummi ship not so long ago could attest to that just like how she was able to follow after the two White Fang soldiers right now would. She was especially glad that Zwei was keeping quiet, because she knew that the pup was more likely to give away their position if he made any noise right now. You could not blame her for thinking like that, given that most of the hunts that her dad and uncle took him on were not stealth-based, but it seemed that Zwei was at least trained enough to know how to keep quiet when necessary, because he did not make even a peep the entire time they were trailing the two Faunus.

When they finally came to a large building, Ruby had to scramble behind cover again so that she would not risk being seen, and was about to grab Zwei so he could help her know whether or not the two went into the building, when someone suddenly slapped their hand over her mouth and pulled her to them. Ruby's startled scream was muffled of course, but she only ceased struggling completely when she registered the familiar feeling of Sora's arms around her, coupled with his distinctive ocean-like scent. Sora on the other hand, was less than happy with her at the moment.

"What is it with you and just rushing off into stuff like this without thinking," Sora hissed, knowing that he was probably being a bit of a hypocrite scolding Ruby for something that he had done more than a handful of times in the past. Of course, Sora liked to think that he was much better about it now, but it was hard to tell if the same could be said of Ruby. "Seriously, I could've easily tracked them while you got the others and followed the tracker in my watch."

Ruby easily wriggled out of Sora's grasp after that and whispered back, "Sorry, but we were right there, and I figured we didn't have enough time. Besides, do you really think I would've let you go it alone?"

Sora knew that she was only asking to be polite, so he just smiled a little in reply to show his appreciation for her concern. He schooled his features again quickly enough when they both heard the sound of a door being opened, and he quickly peeked out to see that the White Fang Faunus they had been following were going into the building that they stopped at. Ruby quickly pulled Sora back behind cover again, only to hold Zwei up so that the corgi was now getting a good look at the location for them.

"Did they go in yet," Ruby asked of her dog. "One bark means yes."

If Sora held any skepticism of whether or not Zwei understood that, it was soon cast aside, because the next time they heard the door close, Zwei barked the one time, just as he had been told to, much to Ruby's delight. "Smart dog," Sora complimented.

"More importantly, this is it! We've found their hideout," Ruby quietly cheered. She then retrieved her Scroll and tried to dial up her teammates, but unfortunately, the call ended up being unable to go through. "Oh rats! I've got a low signal warning. We must be just out of the tower's range for anything other than short-range communications."

"No worries. When in doubt, gummi it," Sora grinned as he brought up his Gummiwatch to both activate his tracking signal and call his team. "Just to be on the safe side though, you should go back and get the others. I'll stay here so that you guys will know where to go."

"Didn't we just have a conversation about this," Ruby asked as she retrieved her scythe from where it had been set down on the ground. Just when it seemed like Sora was about to answer or she was going to add onto her question though, a faint crumbling sound reached her ears. "Uh, what was that?"

Ruby's answer ended up being the ground beneath her and Zwei caving in, and nearly dropping her and the dog into the dark depths below. The only reason she had not fallen in was because Sora had managed to leap over and catch her hand before it was too late, right at the same time that Ruby had managed to catch Zwei. Sadly, Sora could not hold onto Ruby for long, and he could already feel her hand slipping from his grasp. Ruby must have realized this too, as she quickly tossed Zwei up to Sora.

"Easy Zwei. I've gotcha, boy," Sora assured the corgi before passing the dog over to more solid ground. Once Zwei was in the clear, Sora reached back down to Ruby and called out, "Quick, give me your other hand."

Ruby did as asked, and was about to sigh in relief as she felt Sora pulling her up, until they heard the ground starting to crack again. "Oh that doesn't sound good," Ruby muttered.

Realizing what was likely about to happen, Sora redoubled his efforts to pull Ruby back up, but it was all for not when the street finally collapsed beneath him, dropping both him and Ruby into the abyss below. They only just caught a faint echo of Zwei's worried barks as the wind rushed past their ears, but Sora was more concerned with other matters at the moment. He knew that he could survive a fall from just about any height, but he was not sure if the same could be said for Ruby. Sure, her Aura gave her extra protection, but there was no guarantee it would be enough to prevent her from getting hurt when they landed, so he did not even think twice before pulling Ruby into his arms.

Once Ruby was secure in his hold and had her arms wrapped around him, Sora spun them around as best he could so that when they finally landed, he would take the worst of the impact. An impact that came a lot sooner than expected, and was coupled with the added pain of having Ruby's weight pressed down on top of him. Despite whatever pain he felt on any part of his body though, Sora knew that Ruby had most likely come out of this fall much more unscathed than he had, so he took some relief in that above all else. Never mind the dust that he and Ruby were now coughing out of their throats or the dull throbbing in his back; all that mattered was that Ruby was okay in Sora's mind.

"Ugh, well that hurt," Ruby grumbled as she sat up.

"Hey, it could've been worse. For you, I mean," Sora grunted as a reminder of whom she had landed on. Despite his obvious complaints, Ruby still gave him a thankful smile, which also served as Sora's third reward for his valiant actions. His first was the obvious pain to his body, but the second was the one that he found much more enjoyable. "At least I'm seeing stars for a good reason right now."

"And what's that," Ruby asked, knowing why it would be a bad thing for him to being seeing stars at the moment.

"Because I'm looking into your beautiful eyes," Sora replied as he ran a hand through her bangs, making Ruby blush.

"Sora! I really don't think now's the best time for that kind of flattery," Ruby attempted to scold. Her laughter and faint blush made it a very poor attempt though.

"It's not flattery if it's true," Sora easily shot back.

"No seriously. We really should be more focused on getting out of…" Ruby trailed off at the end only because she had used the time she was speaking in to look up at their surroundings, and was left rather surprised by what they found. "Whoa!"

"What? What is it," Sora asked as he turned around as best as he could while pinned beneath her. When he did, he was left just as surprised as Ruby, and gasped, "Oh wow! It's like some kind of underground city!"

It was just as Sora said. What they had expected to be nothing more than some variety of cave, turned out to be a massive, underground city. Sure, it was still technically in a giant cave, but the fact that there was a city down there at all was still pretty cool in their eyes. The only downside was that it looked like it was in the same state as the rest of Mountain Glenn, all ruined, crumbling, and broken. Well that and the two White Fang soldiers that just spotted them before Ruby and Sora could really take in the sights.

"Hey, how'd you two get down here," one of the two shouted as they both aimed their guns at the two intruders.

"Uh, would you believe us if we said that we just wandered into the neighborhood and decided to drop in," Sora chuckled weakly. Ruby's only response was to groan at the bad joke that was likely worthy of her sister, and the two Faunus were not much different.

"Well you and girlfriend have 'wandered' a little too far from home, kid," the second soldier said menacingly as they drew closer.

Ruby and Sora's first instinct was to slowly back away so that they could keep some distance between them and the White Fang soldiers, but they soon realized how unwise that idea was when they felt a steep edge at the backs of their heels. Turning around, they then realized that they were atop one of the old buildings of the underground city, and backing up any further would send them plummeting once again.

"Guess we have no choice but to fight our way out," Sora muttered as he prepared to summon his Keyblade.

Ruby silently nodded and reached for her scythe, only to gasp out of worry when she felt nothing but air where it should have been. "Uh-oh," she muttered.

"What's wrong," Sora asked, stopping short of summoning his weapon when he heard Ruby's distressed mumble.

"I think I dropped my scythe when we fell," Ruby told him.

Now Sora was worried. Ruby had told him on more than one occasion that she was terrible in hand-to-hand combat, and without her scythe, these guys were likely to tear Ruby apart with just a few shots from their rifles. Normally, Sora would not be too concerned, since he had done his fair share of fighting while protecting a friend, but in this case, he did not feel incredibly great about risking it. The last thing he wanted was to risk losing Ruby, but he had to acknowledge that they did not have much choice in this situation. Too bad for him that the White Fang had reached them before he could make peace with that matter.

"Hands off, you creep," Ruby snapped as she pushed off the Faunus that grabbed her, and then attempted to punch him as hard as she could. Since it was such a sloppy hit, the White Fang soldier did not even need to move to block her, and just as easily caught her next hit in his hand before knocking her down.

"Hey, leave her alone," Sora snapped, and he immediately socked the Faunus who hurt Ruby in the face as hard as he could.

Unlike Ruby, Sora's hand-to-hand abilities were actually rather decent, thanks in small part to the training he had done in that area with Aqua and Xion, so when he punched the White Fang soldier, the Keybearer managed to make him stumble back a little. Sora then threw a quick left at the Faunus, only to have his fist caught by him, but when the White Fang soldier tried to hit Sora back, he managed to deflect the blow with his free hand and then elbowed the White Fang soldier in the chest. Taking advantage of how he had thrown his enemy off balance, Sora then kneed the White Fang soldier as hard as he could, and freed his captured hand from the Faunus's grasp so he could nail him with a hard left punch.

Seeing that his current opponent appeared to be down for the count, Sora once again prepared to summon out his Keyblade when another pair of White Fang soldiers suddenly appeared, each armed and ready to fire on both him and Ruby. Not that he was too concerned, as he was sure that Ruby had managed to recover by now, but his confidence soon dropped when he heard Ruby grunting in exertion. He turned around and saw that the second Faunus who had first found him and Ruby had taken advantage of how Sora was so caught up with his buddy, and used that time to grab Ruby and put his gun to her head.

"Don't try anything stupid, kid. Unless you want me to blow her pretty little head off," the Faunus threatened, making sure to tighten his grip the more that Ruby tried to struggle against him.

Ruby was not too big of a fan of being caught and used like a hostage, but no matter what she did, she could not get enough leverage to retaliate against her captor. She was just barely even able to move enough so she could try and bite him. As fast as he was, she doubted that Sora was going to be fast enough to save her and deal with these guys before one of them got hurt, so the most she was able to do was give him a pleading glance, silently asking him to not surrender to these creeps over her.

Sora saw the look, but he had no intention of listening to it, a fact that he conveyed to Ruby with his eyes, and when he raised his hands up to show he gave up. "Smart kid," the White Fang soldier holding Ruby remarked while his buddies restrained Sora. He then looked to said comrades and asked, "What do we do with these brats?"

"What do you think? We take them to the boss. I doubt he'd be too fond of us finding a couple of intruders and not telling him," the third soldier remarked.

That was the last thing Sora or Ruby heard before they were each knocked out by the White Fang members who were holding them.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the camp, Yang had let out a small yawn as her watch shift finally came to an end. The only reason she had been able to stay awake for most of it was mainly because she had the shift with Lea, and he found plenty of ways to keep her awake, either with his jokes, or with some crazy story from his past. She was just about to tell the next person in her team that they were up when she noticed that a certain someone was missing, and just like that, her big sister senses had started tingling like crazy.

"Hey guys, where's Ruby," Yang worriedly asked, getting everyone to wake up.

"Good question. Here's another one for you: where's Sora," Lea informed the blonde, waving to where the spiky haired boy had been sleeping last he had checked so that everyone could see the vacant sleeping bag.

"What's wrong," Aqua sleepily asked as she Oobleck came down, only to figure out the problem when she noticed the two missing members of their party as well.

Oobleck was already beginning to suggest a plan of action to find the two missing leaders when Zwei suddenly rushed into the camp, barking frantically as he ran up to anyone who might give him attention. "Zwei, what is it," Roxas asked. "What's the matter boy?"

The corgi could only whine sadly at them, and like that, Yang grew a little more worried for what had happened to her sister. "Something is definitely wrong," she told the group. "Ruby would never let Zwei go very far without her knowing it."

"I'd say that settles it then. Everyone grab your weapons. Your leaders may be in trouble," Oobleck ordered.

"And I think I might know where we can find them," Ventus announced as he tapped his Gummiwatch. "Looks like we're finally going to be able to rely on the trackers in our watches to find a missing friend."

"About time," Weiss remarked.

"No kidding. I was starting to think that we were going to always be unable to use those trackers for one reason or another, like it was some kind of running gag that we always end up being unable to use them or something," Lea commented. He then paused for a second, and asked, "Wait, did Ice Princess and I just agree on something?"

"Oh my Oum, I think we did," Weiss realized.

"Yeah. That's probably a bad sign," Roxas joked.

Despite knowing that he was not serious, everyone had a sneaking suspicion that Roxas was not entirely wrong in saying that Lea and Weiss agreeing so easily was a bad sign. Something about all of this just gave them a feeling of dread that was hard to ignore, and it made their worries for Ruby and Sora grow more and more, even as they rushed out of their campsite to find the two.

* * *

The first thing Sora noticed when started coming around again was that he was being dragged across the ground, and the second thing was how there was much more noise around him than there should be for an abandoned settlement. Cracking his eyes open, Sora quickly realized that he was now right in the thick of the White Fang's operations, and they were definitely not looking to do another robbery like they had at the docks. There were all kinds of weapons and Paladins around the area, along with train cars that were being loaded up with similar armaments, by both Nobodies and the White Fang. A loud bang grabbed Sora's attention soon after, and he quickly turned to see someone appeared to have dropped something really heavy. Namely, a large, box-like object with wires and Dust crystals attached all over it. From the way that one of the Faunus was scolding his friend, or subordinate given how the other guy was so nervous around him, he probably should not have been so rough with the device, and that spelled bad news to Sora.

On the subject of bad news, Sora immediately remembered Ruby, and quickly started looking around as best as he could for her out of worry. He did not want to think of what these guys would do to her if they decided to separate them for whatever reason, but he quickly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was being dragged along by another pair of guards. Sure, she was still unconscious, but at least she was alright aside from that, so all Sora had to do was get her up again so that they could find a way out of this.

"Ruby," Sora weakly called out, still feeling a bit groggy since he just regained consciousness, but the girl did not answer him. "Ruby. Ruby, wake up!"

"Quiet you," one of the guards holding Sora snapped, and from the sound of his voice, Sora had a hunch that the guy would have kicked him or something if he was not marching Sora and Ruby over to their boss right now. Sora had no intention of listening to these guys though.

"I swear, if you've hurt her, there won't be a single _pebble_ that you can hide from me under," he growled. The only thing that made his threat more menacing and believable was the fact that his body started to give off a faint haze of shadows, indicating that his inner darkness was building up. Whether it was intentional or not in this case though was hard to say, but it seemed to be the latter as Sora ended up taking a few calming breaths just after he realized what his anger was doing.

Thankfully, the White Fang soldiers did not notice Sora's attempt to keep calm, as Ruby had taken that moment to start slowly waking up. "There, you see," the one who had told Sora to be quiet said. "Your girlfriend is fine. Now shut your mouth, human."

"I'd like to see you make me," Sora challenged right when Ruby had become conscious enough to register what was happening around her.

"Uh…Sora, can you please not antagonize the armed terrorists," Ruby quietly pleaded.

"Yeah, listen to her, _Sora_, if you want to stay alive long enough to see the boss," Sora's captor mocked.

Sora just scoffed in response and said, "Oh, we'll be staying alive a lot longer than that. Just _watch_ and see. We'll be making _tracks_ out of here soon enough."

The emphasis that Sora had placed on those two words, coupled with how he had subtly glanced at his watch was enough for Ruby to realize that he was still wearing it, and that the tracking device in the gummi device was still active. She still glanced over to Sora's wrist to check and see for herself, and when she saw he was right, she gave him a happy grin and winked to show she had gotten the message. Ruby felt that she had to make sure that the White Fang did not catch onto Sora's meaning as well, so she was very thankful that they were next to a train that was being loaded up. It made her response to his words a lot more believable.

"Really? A train pun? I think that you might've been hanging out with my sister a little too much lately," Ruby groaned, a little more dramatically than she probably should have.

Sora easily realized what Ruby was doing when she said that, and decided to keep the act going a little more. "Hey, what can I say? Sometimes she does come up with jokes that are on track," he intentionally punned.

"You're just determined to ride the rails on this, aren't you," Ruby took her turn to pun. She was quick to make it seem like she had not meant to. "Oh, see?! Now you've got me doing it!"

"Guess you could say that we've been railroaded by the funny bone," Sora grinned.

"Enough! Please! I might as well kill you two just for all those bad jokes," the White Fang soldier begged.

"Heh," Ruby and Sora both grinned in satisfaction, happy that they had not only kept their reassurances hidden but also annoyed their captors while doing so. Their worries returned soon enough though, when they finally came to a stop before one of the train cars.

"Hey boss! We've got something that you should see," the soldier called out.

"Is it good or bad, Perry, because let me tell ya, I have _had_ a day. Never mind the hell I've been dealing with for the past week," a too-familiar voice asked.

"Uh…It's a couple of kids," Perry reported, a little unsure of how to label this between good or bad for them. "A girl in a hood and some boy with spiky hair."

That got the boss to peek out from the train car he was in, revealing a less than happy Roman Torchwick that quickly laid a vicious glare onto the captive couple. "Yeah, that would be bad," Roman grumbled as he flicked away his cigar. "I swear, how do I keep running into you two?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's just bad luck. For you," Ruby quipped.

"Or maybe because of how bad you just stink. Literally. I mean, when was the last time you showered," Sora added on.

Torchwick jumped down from the train with a growl that soon turned into dangerous snickers as he walked over. "You know what, Perry? I think this might actually be better news than I thought," the criminal said while he cracked his knuckles. "I've been looking to get a little stress relief."

_'Oh boy. We're in trouble,'_ Sora and Ruby both thought at the same time, suddenly wishing that they had kept their big mouths shut.

* * *

"Are you sure we're going the right way," Lea asked of his friend that was following the signal from Sora's watch. "I'm not seeing any signs of so much as a red hood or spiky hair."

"Yes, I'm sure. Sora's signal is coming from somewhere close to this area," Ventus snapped as he kept checking over the watch. He was just as worried as Lea though, because admittedly, the signal would cut out from time to time, and at some points after it came back, it appeared to be somewhere behind them for some reason. "Ugh! So much for being able to rely on the trackers this time," he eventually muttered when the latter happened once again.

Yang was about to voice her own concerns when they suddenly heard Zwei barking. Turning to the dog, the blonde powerhouse quickly spotted the same thing her dog had, and called out, "Guys, over here! It's Ruby's scythe!"

"What?!" the others all shouted as one while chasing after Yang so that they could see for themselves.

Just as she had said, Crescent Rose was lying on the ground, right at the edge of a large hole, and they all quickly came to the same conclusion. "You don't think Ruby fell down there, do you," Weiss worriedly asked.

Aqua and Oobleck were both over at the edge of the hole in seconds, and the others would have joined the two at the same or similar positions had Roxas not heard the ground start to crack again. "Wait! Stay back," Roxas warned, making everyone freeze where they stood. "It doesn't sound like the ground's very stable around here."

"So I guess it's safe to assume that Ruby probably did fall in," Aqua reasoned.

"And maybe that's why Sora's tracking signal is so erratic. Because they're somewhere underground," Ventus reasoned out.

"Underground…Underground…" Oobleck repeated under his breath, until he finally gasped in a clear ah-ha moment. "Of course! Of course, of course, OF COURSE! How could I have been so blind? So stupid!"

"Hey Doc, calm down," Lea soothed. "I'm sure that they're fine. Sora's survived plenty of bad falls, and he probably did something to make sure Ruby would too."

"No, no! Don't you see?! It's not the fall that I'm concerned with, it's what awaited them after the fall," Oobleck quickly clarified. "The very reason why we're here in the first place!"

"Doctor Oobleck, what're you talking about," Yang asked, now even more worried for her sister and Sora.

"Mountain Glenn," Oobleck stated, launching into a recap of what they knew about the area as an explanation. "An expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by creatures of Grimm. Previously home to thousands of people. Working people, commuting to the city, the main city, developed a subway system to the inner city. Grimm attacks increased! Population in danger, now desperately searching for shelter. City evacuates into metro tunnels and what do they find?!"

"Ummm…" was the only thing that any of the others could have said if Oobleck had paused long enough to let them.

"The South-East quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves," Oobleck filled in.

"Doctor, take a breath and just tell us what you're trying to say," Aqua pleaded.

"My dear, we're not just looking for an underground crime network. We're looking for an UNDERGROUND crime network," Oobleck finally shouted.

"You mean that they've been working in caves," Blake asked.

"No, no. Far more than that," Oobleck waved off. "Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expanding the kingdom, and it worked for a short period of time thanks to an aggressive perimeter defense, and unique transportation. The city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new territory into the main kingdom."

"But without the natural barriers that protected Vale's borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed to fail," Lea recalled, surprising everyone a little. "What? I do actually pay attention in class, and like the doc's always saying, history's important."

"Exactly! And I'm glad to see that you have been paying attention, Mister Firebrand," Oobleck quickly praised. "Back on topic, as the end drew near for Mountain Glenn, the citizens living in the territory made one final attempt at survival. They took up shelter beneath the city, in the massive caves that they had cleared out for the subway, and they then cut themselves off from the surface."

"Are you saying that they built an underground city," Roxas asked, admittedly awestruck by the idea.

"In a manner of speaking, it was more of a village than a city, at least in the eyes of some people," Oobleck corrected the blonde.

"Well I guess if you were to compare this place to Vale," Weiss reasoned.

"So what happened," Aqua asked. "Are they still down there?"

"Sadly, no," Oobleck sighed with a mournful look. "It was a safe haven for a time, until one day, when an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern. A cavern that was filled with subterranean Grimm. After that, the kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels, creating the world's largest tomb."

"My god," Lea whispered.

"All those people," Roxas despaired, while the others could do nothing more than hang their heads in respectful, sad silence. Sure, this was not recent news for Yang, Blake, and Weiss, but it was still a sad thing to think about. There was at least one other emotion they were all feeling right now though: anger. Anger at the criminals who dared to use a place like that as their base of operations. It was like they practically desecrating a grave, and none of them were willing to stand for that.

The only other thing they could feel right now was worry, and that was probably the strongest feeling of all, even before Aqua next spoke up, saying, "And Ruby and Sora are likely down there right now, with all of those Grimm, Nobodies, and the criminals we're tracking."

"Yes, which means only one thing," Oobleck concurred. He then pulled out his thermos, making everyone think he was about to get another drink until it expanded into a long, club-like weapon, right as he said, "We must do whatever it takes to find and save them."

"Whoa, hold on a minute. Your _thermos_ is a weapon," Lea exclaimed.

"Of course! Why else do you think I would've brought it out right now," Oobleck asked like it should have been obvious.

None of the students were willing to answer that right now, and they were all thankful that Aqua voiced their thoughts for them. "I really don't think you want them to answer that question, Doctor Oobleck."

"Yes, I do believe you're right," Oobleck admitted, having apparently realized what assumptions they might have made just after he had asked his question. "Now let's get moving everyone."

"Right," Aqua determined as she summoned out Stormfall. "We've got some friends to save."

"So what're we waiting for," Ventus asked as he stepped towards his teammates with a fist out. "For life…"

"And light…" Roxas continued, tapping his fist against Ven's.

"Together…" Lea then added as he repeated his best friend's actions.

"We fight," the three boys all finished as one with a final, group fist-bump.

As they all proceeded to dive down into the hole before them, Blake making sure she had secured Ruby's scythe on her back before she did, Yang had to grin and say, "Now that's a cool team battle cry."

* * *

A faint grunt escaped Ruby's lips as she was knocked to the ground by Torchwick, much to the criminal's amusement and Sora's rage. Apparently, Roman's stress relief consisted of basically beating her down as much and as hard as he could. Not that Ruby was actually getting hurt, thanks to her Aura, but she was not really able to retaliate all that well without her scythe, and Roman clearly knew it.

"You see, this is definitely just what I needed right now," Torchwick mockingly laughed. "I mean, sure, you were a pain dealing with, Red, but without that oversized gardening tool of yours, you're as easy to deal with as any, helpless little girl."

"Leave her alone, you creep," Sora shouted as he struggled against the White Fang soldiers and Dusks that were currently holding him back from attacking their boss. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

"Oh don't worry, Spiky. You'll get your turn in a minute, but I want to enjoy this for a little while. It's nothing personal, but me and Red here just have so much more history together than you and I do," Roman smirked in Sora's direction. He then paused for a second to think and said, "Huh, you know, now that I've said that out loud, I guess it is just a little personal in an odd way. Oh well. Back to spanking the bad little brat."

That was one of the last straws for Ruby, as she let out an angry battle cry while charging at Torchwick, intending to slug him for talking down on her like that. Too bad for her, Roman saw it coming from a mile away, and was able to easily side-step her charge, tripping her with his cane as she passed him by. While Ruby was now even more annoyed than ever, Torchwick just laughed a little more. "See, this is what I'm talking about. Perfect stress reliever right here," Roman continued to mock, while Sora kept fighting against his captors. "Perry, you did good bringing them here."

Perry said nothing, but he did shoot Torchwick a thumbs-up in response to the praise. Sora on the other hand had plenty to say. "Yeah, I bet you feel real tough beating on a defenseless enemy like some playground bully, instead of facing us like a real man," he snapped.

"Oh kid, you're just itching to take her place, aren't you," Roman chuckled. He then turned much more serious, and walked over to Ruby, shoved the barrel of his cane's gun under her chin, and asked, "But in all seriousness, how about you tell us how you found this place, Red? Or maybe if there's anyone else with you?"

"We told you already. We followed your nasty stench," Ruby growled in defiance. Her response just made Torchwick push his cane closer to her throat, but she continued to show no trace of fear over his threat.

Sora on the other hand, started struggling more than ever before, his body starting to gain a light trace of shadows once again, and those whiffs made it hard for the Dusks to remain close to him with getting a little stung. "Hey boss," Perry called out, having noticed what was going on with Sora.

"Not now, Perry. I'm busy getting Red to talk," Torchwick waved off. His smirk turned a little more dangerous when he next added, "Unless of course she doesn't care about what happens to her little boyfriend."

Now it was Ruby's turn to get angry and threaten the crook. "If you even think about touching him," she growled.

"Oh, touched a nerve did we," Roman mocked. "Well I'll do more than that to him if you don't talk."

Ruby's next response was a stronger glare before she said, "I've got a better idea."

The next thing Roman knew, his vision was filled with rose petals, signaling that Ruby had activated her Semblance to dash away, and he did not need to turn to his underlings to know that she had used her speedy escape to free Sora. Their pained grunts that were followed by Sora's smug-sounding laugh were indicator enough. Sadly, the heroes did not get very far, as Roman quickly spun his cane around so that the hooked end of it was aimed at them, and then fired the grappling line so that he could catch Ruby by her hood and reel her in like a fish on a hook.

"Nice trick there, kid, but in case it wasn't already clear, we're not through here yet," Roman snarled to the young huntress once she was back at his feet again.

"Think again," Sora shouted, making Roman look up and see that the boy had summoned forth his Keyblade to aim at him. "Let her go, Torchwick."

"Or what? You'll run me over with that little rollercoaster of yours," Torchwick mocked before he grabbed Ruby and hoisted her up to her feet. He then aimed the gun on his cane at Ruby's head and said, "I've got a better offer: you give up, and I won't shoot Red's pretty little head off. Unless of course, you think you've got a better chance of saving her before that happens. Well, Hero-boy?"

Now Sora was really mad. Sure, anyone would be in a hostage situation, but this was almost a perfect recreation of the moment when Xehanort had struck Kairi down, and the last thing Sora intended to do was let history repeat itself. The only problem was that there was not really anything he could right now without putting Ruby in further danger, and from the look on Roman's face, the criminal knew he had Sora backed into a corner. If that was not the icing on the cake, Ruby was giving Sora a pleading look that was not asking for him to save her, but for him to not do what their enemy was asking, making this one of those times that Sora wished he could just say no to Ruby. He did not want to do anything that got her hurt, even if it meant that he had to surrender to the enemy.

Ruby must have realized this, because she turned her silent plea into a spoken one and shouted, "Don't listen to him, Sora. Just attack!"

"Shut it," Roman snapped as he jabbed his cane further into the side of Ruby's head.

"No! No," Sora pleaded as he dismissed his Keyblade again. "I give up!"

"Smart boy," Roman smirked. He then signaled for his guys to restrain Sora again and tossed Ruby down so that he could start questioning her again, but before he could, a loud explosion grabbed his attention. It did not stop with one though, as another came soon after, followed by sounds of gunfire, cries of panic, and the telltale sound of a Dusk being destroyed. "Oh, now what's going on?!"

Ruby and Sora looked to where all the racket was coming from, and were soon grinning like mad when they saw their friends coming from around the corner, tearing through anyone stupid or foolish enough to get in their way. As relieved as they were to see that their rescuers had finally made it, the couple had no intention of staying idle, and Ruby was the first to make that clear when she kicked Roman in the shin. While the crook was left hobbling around from the injury that he had just been dealt, Sora summoned out his Keyblade again and blasted Roman with a quick burst of wind magic that sent him tumbling away from Ruby.

By the time Roman finally regained his bearings, Ruby and Sora were already off and running again, and he was not happy about that. "Somebody kill those infuriating brats!"

Torchwick's order was easier said than done, as Ruby and Sora proved to be a little too fast for any of the White Fang's shots to hit them. Even having some Snipers come in to provide assistance proved futile, because Sora managed to deflect nearly every shot with his Keyblade. After sending one last energy bolt back to the Sniper that had fired it, Sora grabbed hold of Ruby and leapt onto one of the rails of the train tracks they were standing between, activating his Flowmotion powers and riding the rail further away from the bad guys.

Having never really experienced Sora's Flowmotion powers for more than a brief second before, Ruby had to admit that the rush she felt running through her body right now, even as a passenger was unlike anything she had experienced before. It was like something had flooded into her Aura to make her even stronger and more resistant to any of the Dust rounds that came close to hitting them, while strengthening her body to an extent she had hardly ever imagined possible before. For a moment, she had wonder what it felt like actually using the power like Sora was as opposed to just being a tag-along, but that curiosity was soon replaced with worry when she noticed that they were starting to run out of track. The bad news just kept on coming, as the end of the line also included a number of White Fang soldiers and Berserkers that were already gearing up to fire on them the moment they stepped off the tracks.

Sora managed to avoid the initial shots by leaping into the air, but his Flowmotion quickly faded out as they descended to the ground again, leaving them vulnerable. At least they would have been, had a certain Keyblade mage not cast a Barrier spell around him and Ruby, blocking the shots and better protecting them from the blasts that sent the Faunus flying and made the Berserkers drop like dead weight, courtesy of Yang and Roxas.

"Ruby!" Yang cheered in relief, sweeping her sister up into a tight hug that Ruby had no compunction to deny for the moment.

"Sora, are you guys okay," Ventus questioned as he and the others all joined the two leaders.

"Yeah, we're fine. A little shaken, maybe, but a lot happier to see you guys," Sora grinned as an added show of his relief. "But I'm sure Ruby would be a lot better off if she had…"

"Her scythe," Blake finished in questioning as she presented the weapon in question to her leader with a smile.

"Yes! Thank you," Ruby cheered happily. "Oh, I'm so sorry I left you behind, baby."

"Ruby, focus! You can cuddle with Crescent Rose later. We've still got some problems to deal with," Sora reminded her.

"Right! Right," Ruby nodded. "You guys aren't going to believe this; Torchwick's got all sorts of weapons, robots, and Nobodies back down that way."

"What," Lea and Weiss both gasped in surprise.

"Yeah, all kinds of stuff. Every Nobody that we've heard about being on Remnant, plus a bunch of androids and mechs, and they're all being loaded onto that train," Sora informed them. "I think they're planning to get it all into the city for an attack or something."

"Ah, that's ridiculous! These tunnels are sealed. The tracks lead to a dead end," Oobleck waved off.

"You might want to tell them that," Ruby said to her professor.

Before anyone could argue the matter any further, the intercom came on and proved Sora and Ruby right via the person speaking into it. _"Everyone get to your places. We are leaving now!"_

Right after that announcement was made, the train let off steam and began pulling away from the make-shift staging grounds of a station, its horn blaring loudly as it slowly chugged off. Seeing this drew confused looks onto most of the group's faces, but the rest of them were more worried about the fact that the bad guys were making their move now, and how they were going to respond.

"Anyone have any ideas on how we stop something like that," Lea questioned.

"For starters, by getting some backup. I'm calling Jaune," Ruby said while pulling out her Scroll. A few taps through her contact list later, and she was sending a call to the young knight, only to get an error message that she had earlier when she had tried to call her teammates before. "I can't get through."

"Don't worry. I can still call Xion so she can let the others know what's up," Roxas reminded her as he tapped the call feature on his watch. Everyone was about to breathe a sigh of relief after being reminded that the call features on Team SLVR and Aqua's gummi devices could still make calls when their Scrolls could not, until Roxas's watch let out a loud whine of static. "Okay, maybe not."

"What's the matter," Blake asked.

"I don't know. I'm only getting static," Roxas replied.

"Something in these caves must be blocking the signal from our gummi devices," Aqua realized. "Meaning we're not anymore likely to get a call out with them than we would be with our Scrolls."

"So now what do we do," Weiss questioned.

"I'm afraid that there's only one thing we can do," Oobleck determined.

Aqua nodded in agreement before looking to the boys of Team SLVR, and asked, "How many of you have learned how to use Airstep?"

"Most of us have at least been told the basics, but me and Roxas are still struggling to make it work," Lea admitted.

"Well no time like the present to figure it out," Aqua remarked.

"Aqua, they're already too far away for us to get a proper lock," Sora pointed out. "Even if we were to use Ven's wind magic to give us boost, I don't we'd all be able to catch up fast enough, and that's going on the assumption that Ven, Ruby, and I are the only ones that go."

Hearing that, Ventus let out a small smirk and said, "Who said I would need to be the one who gave us the boost?" He then turned to the white haired heiress of their group. "Weiss, think you can use your glyphs on this many people at once?"

"Hmm…I suppose I could if we all grouped up as closely as possible," Weiss mused.

"Alright then," Aqua nodded before grabbing onto Oobleck with her free hand. "Everyone who doesn't have a Keyblade, grab someone who does and don't let go."

Pairing up was no problem for any of the girls, nor were the pairs a surprise, given that Ruby gravitated to Sora without a second thought, while Yang and Weiss did the same with Lea and Ventus respectively, leaving Roxas for Blake to hold onto. "Xion's not going to be upset about this, is she," the cat Faunus asked.

"Don't worry, you're fine," Roxas assured her. "If anything you should be more worried about whether or not I'll be able to get this Airstep thing right."

That did very little to ease Blake's nerves, but it was too late to back out now, as Weiss had already cued up the necessary glyphs to launch them all forward. Just like that, the group was launched over to the train just as it was beginning to steadily build up speed. It took a few more moments before they finally got within range, but soon enough, they reached the point where each of the five Keyblade wielders were able to properly lock onto a point on the back of the train, and shoot themselves and their passengers the rest of the way forwards using Airstep.

When their feet hit solid ground on the rearmost train car, Lea and Roxas both let excited grins cross their faces as the latter cheered, "We did it! We finally did it!"

His celebration ended up alerting a guard that was in the car, and Oobleck was just a few seconds too late in knocking him out before he could alert the others on the train. "We don't have much time," Oobleck alerted the others. "No matter what happens, we need to get to the front and stop this train."

"Uh, Professor," Weiss called back from where she was standing by an open hatch.

"Doctor."

"What's that," Weiss finished after Oobleck's most recent correction, indicating the large device that was inside the car.

Sora quickly recognized it as one of the devices he had seen earlier. "Hey, I saw the White Fang and a bunch of Dusks loading those things onto one of the cars earlier when they were dragging me and Ruby down here."

"Hmm, very worrying," Oobleck noted.

"Why's that," Lea could not help but ask.

"Because that, my boy, appears to be a bomb," Oobleck revealed.

"A BOMB," everyone on both Team RWBY and SLVR exclaimed as one while jumping back a little bit.

Ruby then looked around to see if anyone had any ideas on how to deal with that, when she caught sight of another problem. "We've got baddies," she reported as she indicated the gathering White Fang soldiers and Nobodies further up ahead on the train.

"Well, it's not like I expected them to go…" Oobleck started to say, only to be interrupted by the sound of the bomb in the car below them activating. "…Easy on us."

"Everyone onto the next car! And fast," Aqua ordered. "Ven, decouple the caboose and do whatever you can to push it further back before the bomb goes off."

"I'm on it," Ventus confirmed as he jumped down to the connecting points between the two cars. Summoning out Wayward Wind, Ventus was all but ready to cut the couplings between the two cars, but before he could do anything, the connection came undone on its own.

"Wow, way to work fast, Ven," Lea complimented, thinking Ven had been the one to cut the connection.

"It wasn't me. The car decoupled itself," Ventus reported.

"What," Oobleck and Aqua both exclaimed.

"This on the other hand, is me," Ventus affirmed for them as he aimed his Keyblade at the detached car and shouted, "Aeroga!"

With the extra push from Ven's powerful wind spell, the train car was pushed further away from the group, so that when the bomb finally exploded, it was too far away to do anything other than make them flinch from the sound of the explosion going off. "I guess it's safe to say that he really doesn't want us on this train," Yang commented, referring to how they had not only activated the bomb but also decoupled the caboose afterwards.

Oobleck would have agreed with Yang, had he not seen how the walls of the cave appeared to have been weakened by the explosion. "That's not good," he commented.

"Uh, neither is this," Ruby announced as she looked down into the car they were now standing on.

"We've got another bomb," Blake reported.

Hearing that, Oobleck had a very sneaking suspicion that he did not like at all, and he quickly made his way over to the next car forward as fast as he could. Opening the hatch, Oobleck ended up having his fears confirmed, much to his dismay, and he turned back to the others and shouted, "THEY ALL HAVE BOMBS!"

Hearing that, the team did not even need to hear the bomb in their current car activating before they jumped to the car that Oobleck was on, but their shock did make it so that they almost did not make it before the car had decoupled itself again. Thankfully they all did, but that did little in clearing up the confusion that they all now felt.

"This doesn't make any sense," Yang protested.

"No kidding. Why would they have bombs like that in all of the cars," Weiss asked.

"Maybe so that they have a way to ensure they can open up that dead end sealing off the tunnel from the main city," Roxas proposed.

"No way. Just one or two of these things would likely be enough. If there's one bomb for each of the cars, then that's way too many," Lea dismissed. Being such a pro with fire magic, Lea knew what he was talking about when it came to stuff like this, and the others all knew it. "Not only that, but why are they activating the bombs and then decoupling the cars like this? There's no way it's just to get rid of us."

No one had any suggestions that could explain the strangeness of this whole thing, and even if they did, there was no time to dwell on it, because the White Fang and the Nobodies were now nearly right on top of them. "How about we put this mystery on hold until we've dealt with the bad guys," Ventus suggested.

That was a plan that everyone could get on board with, as Teams RWBY and SLVR all rushed past Oobleck and Aqua, both of whom were still trying to figure out the mystery, to face off against their enemies. After a brief pause to ready their weapons and show they were prepared for whatever the villains had, Sora then shouted, "For life and light, together we fight!"

While Ruby spent the next few seconds gushing over how Sora's team had a cool battle cry, Yang went right to work by clobbering a couple of White Fang goons, sparing barely any more than two or three punches for each one. When a couple of Assassins popped out to try and cut her to ribbons, Lea came to the rescue and deflected their attacks before blasting them off the train with some powerful fire magic. Changing his blade into his chakrams, Lea proceeded to slice up the Assassins much more quickly before tossing the bladed wheels into some attacking White Fang Faunus that dared to try and get the jump on Yang while she was distracted with a few Dusks.

"Claws off the lady, fellas," Lea shouted after he caught his trusted weapons and turned them back into his Keyblade again. "Unless you want to deal with a more serious burn than we're already giving you."

"Hey, if they can't stand the heat, then they should get out of the dining car," Yang joked in an easy play-off of Lea's statement.

Blake and Roxas both rolled their eyes as they made their move, with the former taking the lead by rushing in and knocking several White Fang off as she passed them. Blake then proceeded to slash at any other Faunus that dared to try and attack her, before she had to use her Semblance in order to dodge an attack from some Reapers. Luckily for her, Blake did not need to worry about counterattacking, since Roxas had that taken care of from the moment she had created a shadow. With a few strong swings of Oathkeeper and Oblivion, Roxas was able to destroy the Reapers in no time, and the only one that remained was soon dealt with just as quickly when he used Oathkeeper to fire off an orb of light, followed by a blast of dark magic from Oblivion.

Weiss and Ventus were next to strike, and heiress easily led the charge by lunging forward and creating a trail of ice spikes behind her to hit the enemies she passed by. Using some of the ice as a stepping stone, Ventus was able to launch into the air and toss his Keyblade at the Ninjas who tried to approach Weiss afterwards. He made sure to imbue Wayward Wind with plenty of wind magic when he threw it, so he knew that the Keyblade was going to be spinning through the air due to the wind currents it was now riding even after he landed, but that was no problem for Ventus. The White Fang soon found that out when Ven touched down and landed an easy combo of hits to one Faunus, knocking him off, followed by a spin kick to another and a quick roll that placed him in the thick of the next group of bad guys right when his Keyblade had returned to his hand. From there it was a simple matter of using his speedy swordsman skills to remove the surrounding Snipers from the fight before they could fire off a single shot.

At last, it was Ruby and Sora's turn to join in, and while Ruby used the recoil of a shot from Crescent Rose to launch towards her targets, Sora merely used the powers of his Airstep abilities to put him in striking distance. No matter which method they used though, the results were the same: several White Fang and Dusks were knocked out of action all at once with a quick swing of their respective weapons. The only difference was that Ruby's attack was trailed by red rose petals, while Sora's was followed by faint, blue sparkles that came off from the aura of his Flowmotion powers.

Seeing that the students had things well in hand when it came to the full-frontal assault, Aqua focused on maintaining covering fire for Oobleck while the doctor continued trying to puzzle out what the enemy's strange could possibly be. It finally started coming together for him when the most recently detached car finally exploded, creating a few sizeable holes in the tunnel around them. He did not even need to look for further evidence to support his theory, because it came crawling out of those holes in all of its vicious, snarling, and soulless glory.

"Oh dear," Oobleck quietly gasped, and he then turned to the others to share what he had realized with them. "They're leading Grimm into the city!"

"WHAT," everyone else all shouted in horror.

"That's why the cars all have bombs in them! They detach and explode to create openings for the Grimm," Oobleck explained.

"That's insane," Blake cried out.

Aqua looked back to see the charging Grimm for herself just as the car right behind them detached like the others before it. Unlike Oobleck, she did not just all the various Grimm that her friends had dealt with up until now rushing after them, though. She also saw something much worse with coming with them. "It's not just Grimm he's leading into the city," Aqua called out, alerting them to the other enemy that was now trailing behind them and the train, even without the explanation of what else was behind them. "He's leading the Heartless there too!"

Turning to see for themselves, everyone was shocked to see that, sure enough, a veritable horde of moving shadows that could only have been the Heartless were now chasing after them alongside the Grimm, and it was not just the various varieties of Shadows. There were several Emblem Heartless coming as well, along with the various elemental Heartless that Sora had over the course of his last adventure. Why so many of them were down here with the Grimm was anyone's guess, but it was clear that they had been there for some time now.

"I guess we know where all the Heartless on Remnant were hiding now," Lea commented. "But why'd we have to find out like this?"

"It doesn't matter right now. We need to hurry if we want to prevent any of them from getting into the city," Aqua told them.

"Agreed," Oobleck nodded before he began giving out orders to the group. "Blake, Yang, Weiss, Lea, Roxas, and Ventus. You six go below and try to find some way of stopping those bombs!"

"Might be a little easier if we could call in some extra backup," Ventus said.

"Maybe we can," Roxas rebuked, getting odd looks from the others as he turned to his team leader. "After all, one of us can summon friends to help at any time he wants."

"Wait, are you saying that you guys can actually use summoning," Weiss gasped in awe. As far as she knew, only members of her family could do things like that, but then again, she probably should not be too surprised that the Keyblade wielders could do it too. It seemed like there was no limit to their powers.

"We can't. _He_ can," Lea corrected, indicating Sora with his correction.

"And it's a bad idea in this case," Sora protested. "Most of them are too big or are just too powerful to be of help right now. Unless you actually want this whole train to blow up while we're on it."

"Come on, man. You've gotta have one summon that can help us out here," Roxas pleaded, hoping that the answer was yes.

"Sorry, but I'm still converting some of my old Summon Charms and Gems into Heartbinders, and the only ones I've got that could probably be of any help here would be the one for my Dream Eater friends and…" Sora started to say, only to stop short before he could name the other one. Then he smiled and exclaimed, "Duh!"

Thinking of the person that just came to his mind, Sora placed a hand to his heart, and focused all the necessary magic through the Heartbinder that corresponded to that friend, a faint wind picking up around him as his body lit up with a brilliant light. When he felt the magic reach the necessary apex, Sora looked up and shouted, "Together, as one!"

Following Sora's cry, a brilliant, blue light surged forth from him and began rocketing over the train car roofs to take out whatever Nobodies or White Fang Soldiers were still left up there with them, while the source of this beam shouted, "YEEE-HAAAAA!" When the last bad guy was finally down, the beam came back around to land before the group, revealing itself to be a familiar, blue and fluffy friend of Sora, Aqua, and Ven's, who happily said, "Aloha!"

While the Keyblade wielders were not too fazed by this little blue creature's sudden appearance, Oobleck and the girls had a rather different reaction. "WAAA-AAAH!"

"What in the name of Oum is that thing," Weiss screamed.

"He's Experiment 626," Aqua started to answer.

"Naga. Stitch," the little guy corrected, making Aqua and Ventus pause to look at him curiously. "My name Stitch now."

"Oh, right. Sorry," Aqua apologized, having forgotten about that for a moment.

"Anyways, he's a powerful alien experiment that can think faster than a supercomputer, lift objects three thousand times his own size, is almost completely indestructible, and see in the dark," Ventus went on to explain while Stitch himself was busy getting acquainted with Zwei.

Right when Ventus had finished, Zwei seemed to bark in approval of the little blue experiment, while Stitch happily petted the corgi before turning back to them and adding, "Also cute and fluffy!"

Having been drawn in because of the former factor, Ruby was quick to confirm all of Stitch's claim was true after petting him a few times, and immediately gasped, "AHH, he's right! Aren't you just so adorable?!"

"Well, there you have it. I guess we've got a seventh for our team," Lea figured out while Stitch reveled in the affection that Ruby was showing him, which Weiss would have joined in on as well if they were in a less serious situation.

"Just remember that Stitch won't be able to stick around for long. Once the energy I'm using to keep him here runs out, he'll disappear back to wherever I summoned him from," Sora cautioned.

The others all nodded to show their understanding, and then moved to enter the train as fast as they could, leaving Ruby, Sora, Zwei, Aqua, and Oobleck on top of the train with one simple question. "So, what are the rest of us going to do while they're dealing with the bombs," Ruby asked.

"Simple. We're going to stop this train," Oobleck declared.

No more was said between the remaining four and their canine company, and they all immediately began hopping across the train cars in a mad rush to reach the engine. Reaching that goal before the train reached the end of the tracks alone was going to be difficult, but so long as no one else got in the way, they were all sure that they could make it. Unfortunately, their path did end up being blocked once again, only this time, the White Fang was bringing out the big guns; namely, the Paladin mechs, alongside of Reapers and Berserkers.

"Now that's a problem," Aqua remarked, readying Stormfall for action, this time intent on entering the fight right from the start.

"Where's a Gigas when I need one," Sora grumbled. His annoyance at not having some similar heavy artillery of his own was cast aside though when Oobleck suddenly stepped forward and drew his weapon.

"Not to worry, Sora. I'll handle this," the doctor assured everyone, and he took a few quick gulps of coffee from the thermos before fully activating the weapon, and igniting a small flame at the end. Swinging it down, Oobleck's weapon had its enflamed tip positioned right over Zwei's head, and the only sign that the dog gave of noticing that was to merely bark as if to confirm he was ready for action. The next thing anyone knew, the dog had curled up in a ball as it leapt up, and allowed Oobleck to swing his weapon at him like a baseball bat, turning the corgi into a high-speed, fireball of doom.

Sora and Aqua both watched with gaping expressions as Zwei crossed the gap between them and that first mech that was charging towards them, and then completely destroyed the machine in just one hit. Weirder still was that Zwei landed on his feet, completely unscathed, and just panted happily over to them like he had never been lit on fire. The corgi only started to look worried when another Paladin stomped down behind him, but Oobleck made quick work of this one with a few quick fire blasts and a flaming swing of his flamethrower club.

Before anyone could comment on Oobleck's incredible display of power, the Reapers and Berserkers moved in to attack, but they were soon driven back by several rounds of magic spells, courtesy of Aqua. Sure, the spells did not do much damage, but Aqua was not aiming to take them out with her spells. She had cast them in order to build up the energy necessary to activate one of her most powerful, personal abilities, and it showed when her body was enshrouded with a light blue aura. Using the power of her Spellweaver Command Style, Aqua was able to glide across the ground while spinning her Keyblade through the air via light magic, easily scoring a full, six-hit combo on the monsters before she finished it off by firing an orb of light out from her Keyblade, destroying half the Reapers and Berserkers in one go.

"Whoa," Ruby and Sora both breathed in awe for what they just witnessed. Though the latter was left impressed with a little bit more than the former was.

"Good thing Lea's not here right now. He'd probably freak if he saw what happened with Zwei just now," Sora commented.

"Yeah, but I think it still would've been funny to see his reaction," Ruby shrugged.

Sora had to agree with that, but figured they would save the rest of their laughs for later. There were some more Paladins coming in, along with some more heavy-hitter Nobodies, and neither he nor Ruby had any intention of letting Aqua and Oobleck hog all the action for themselves.

* * *

"Well, I guess this is what we trained for," Yang said after she and the other six had dropped down into the car that take them right to the engine. They figured that if they nabbed Torchwick, they would have a much easier time stopping the bombs, so it was really no surprise that they were heading for a similar destination as the rest of their team.

Before they went too much further, Weiss reached into her pouch and grabbed a clip full of Dust rounds that she offered to Blake. "Here, this might come in handy," she told the cat Faunus.

"Thanks," Blake nodded while sliding the clip into Gambol Shroud.

"Well, so long as we're passing things out," Lea started off as he dove into one of his pockets and grabbed a few vials that he quickly passed out to the girls. "You three better take some of these Potions and Hi-Potions just in case. Never know when you might need a drink that gives a quick-recovery."

The girls all nodded and each pocketed two Potions and two Hi-Potions, and the group then proceeded to get moving for their destination. Their advancement quickly stopped when Stitch suddenly got down on all-fours and started growling. "What is it, Stitch," Roxas asked, only to have his question answered when Neo suddenly appeared before them, smiling her usual playful, yet devious smirk. "Oh. Never mind."

"You all go on ahead. I've got a little score to settle with this girl," Yang told them, not letting her eyes move away from the smaller girl for even a second.

No one was going to argue with Yang, mainly out of worry for their own health, but they did not get very far past Neo before a new squad of Nobodies suddenly materialized into their path. Not just any Nobodies; no, these were a very specific group of Nobodies that they had only heard about being on Remnant up until now. The very same type that Lea had admitted to being worried about on the night that they learned of their being here. "And at long last, there's our Samurais," the redheaded pyro grumbled. He then started to summon out his Keyblade, ready to hold them off for the others while assisting Yang as much as he could, while saying, "I've got these guys handled. You all keep…"

"No. I've got this," Roxas interrupted, already summoning Oathkeeper and Oblivion into his hands, much to the others' surprise.

"Are you sure, Roxas," Lea asked. He might have been able to handle fighting the Assassins, but he was not so sure that Roxas would be able to handle fighting the Dusks that had answered directly to him. Sure, Roxas did not really utilize the Samurais that much during his time in the old Organization, but they were still his followers, so there was no way of knowing for sure how he would handle this.

"Positive," Roxas nodded. "Maybe I can't get an average Dusk to see reason, but I'll be damned if I can't get these guys to fall in line with us. Now go!"

That seemed to settle the argument, and the others all took off, leaving Roxas and Yang with their respective opponents. Not that it stopped Neo or the Samurais from attempting to impede their path, but a few rounds of Fire Dust from Ember Celica certainly helped to discourage Neo from trying. The Samurais on the other hand just ended up having Roxas block their path, and they all seemed to freeze the moment he had appeared and aimed Oblivion at them, threateningly. For a brief time, the two sides just silently stared each other down as if silently daring the other to make the first move. It was hard to tell if Neo found it awkward to do so, given that she was eye-level with Yang's chest, but Yang was not concerned with that, as she took the initiative by throwing the first punch.

Yang was not sure what had happened after that, but somehow, in the blink of an eye, Neo managed to deflect her attack and push her back with her umbrella. The only thing that made Yang more upset was that the girl just spun said parasol up onto her shoulder after opening it, still smiling playfully like she was toying with Yang. The blonde brawler was not going to let that stand, and immediately charged with fists swinging. Neo did not seem to show any concern, as she easily leaned this way and that, dodging every attack that Yang threw, until she finally closed the umbrella again to block the blonde's next kick and a few other attacks that followed after, wrapping it up with a quick spin kick that knocked Yang to the floor. Neo then took her chance to strike back and threw out a drop kick that Yang just barely spun away from, but that did not deter her, as she easily caught Yang's next punch, and landed another pair of kicks that pushed Yang back again.

Getting her butt handed to her so easily was already enough to get Yang annoyed, but the fact that this tiny girl was doing so with that annoying smile still on her face was really starting to tick her off. So, it was no surprise that the next time Neo attacked, Yang made it a point to fire her gauntlets with every punch she threw at the smaller girl. It did not make much difference, since Neo blocked every blast with her umbrella, opening and closing it in quick succession so that she could better attack and defend at any moment. Despite the haze her annoyance at the girl's tactics was putting her in, Yang was still able to see at least one opening in Neo's defense, and quickly fired another blast at the girl's feet the next time she found the umbrella in her face. Too bad for her that Neo still managed to back flip away before the blast could hit, and continued to do so until she was sitting back on a crate, still smiling all the while.

Meanwhile, Roxas's stare down with the Samurais continued on, with neither side doing anything. You would think this meant that the two sides were in the midst of using Duel Stance against each other, but in truth, it really was just a tense stare-off. Roxas was sure that some Nobodies would not be so eager to try and fight against their former commander, and while his theory was disproven when they ran into the Assassins yesterday, it was certainly holding up here, because the Samurai were not showing any signs of intentions to attack him yet. He just needed to be absolutely sure before trying to reason with them, but his hesitance ended up costing him, as the front most Samurai finally realized he was not going to come at them. So, they took the chance and attacked.

Samurais may not have been the fastest moving Nobodies, but when it came to attacking strength and speed, Roxas was proud to say that they ranked pretty high up there. He just wished that he was not currently the target of their attacks, but since he knew their tactics better than anyone else, he was able to stay ahead of them for the most part, and if he could not dodge the attacks, then he easily managed to block or deflect them. Eventually, Roxas saw that he was going to have to strike back, and he did with some fast, strong swings of his own blades, driving the Samurais back. If Nobodies like these could be surprised, then they most likely were at the moment when they realized Roxas's attacks merely damaged the three, but did nothing to destroy them.

The three attacking Samurais were not deterred by their former master's show of mercy, and prepared to attack once more. At least they were, until Roxas shouted, "ENOUGH!" Hearing the blonde shout at them like that, the Samurais all froze where they stood, and then watched as Roxas relaxed his stance, holding his Keyblades at his sides. "What reason do you have to ally with these people," he asked them. "If it's to gain hearts of your own, then you'll never do so by working with Torchwick or the White Fang. I understand how powerful that desire is, but you're letting it turn you into the slaves you once were when Xehanort was around. You may not have human forms like I do, or like any of the members of the Organization did, but who's to say that you can't gain your own hearts if given a little time?"

Despite the fact that the Samurais did not have any kind of distinguishable facial features, Roxas was still able to tell that his words were making them think things over and he pressed on with his speech. "Please, there's no reason for you to fight against me, and I don't want to fight you, either. We were once allies, but unlike most of the other members of the Organization, I never saw you all as mere tools or slaves to be thrown away. We were comrades, and we can be again if you want to be. If you'd rather just be free to find your own purpose, then so long as you don't hurt anyone, you can do that, too, but if you truly want to make a real difference and find out if there is a way for you to regain what you lost, then don't fight us. Join us. Join me."

It really seemed like Roxas was starting to reach the Samurais, especially when two of the three that he had just been fighting holstered their swords and stood down, but the leader of those same three still held his blades ready to attack, and Roxas knew that it was going to take a little more to convince them. "If you really wish to stand against me, then by all means," Roxas stated, dismissing his Keyblades and holding his arms open to give the Samurai a clear shot at him. "Here's your chance to prove what you are once and for all. A slave of monsters, or lost souls that want to serve a truly noble purpose."

A tense silence filled the air at that point, and it was only disturbed when that lone Samurai finally charged at Roxas and swung both of its blades.

* * *

The rest of the team that were traveling through the inside of the train had continued their race to the front with little pause, but the next obstacle in their path could be heard long before Stitch had started growling again. The reason: because it was a lieutenant dragging his massive blade along the floor as if he was trying to intimidate any of them into giving up when he finally appeared before them. Obviously it was not going to work, but the sight of a few Reapers flanking him certainly helped to make him seem at least a little scary.

"Blake, you go on ahead while I handle this miscreant," Weiss told her teammate.

"Got it. Just be careful. This guy can take a lot of punishment," Blake cautioned.

"Don't worry. She's not going to be handling him alone," Ventus assured her.

"Yeah, because _I'm_ gonna be sticking here while you go with Blake and Stitch," Lea told his friend, much to everyone's surprise. "What? Just because Weiss and I don't get along doesn't mean I want some scumbag and Marluxia's old lapdogs knocking her down. That's my job."

"Uh-huh. Sure, Lea," Ventus smirked knowingly. "Or maybe you're finally starting to warm up to the idea of being friends with her."

"Hey, fire and ice don't mix. That's never gonna change. Besides, you're the one who's actually fought alongside of Stitch before, so it only makes sense that you go with the group he's in," Lea pointed out. "Now stop arguing and go nab our big bad guys."

Blake and Ventus did not have any more time to debate the point, as they all finally came within range of the lieutenant. When Weiss and Lea both moved to engage from the start, it seemed for a moment that they would end up being cut down to size. As it turned out, they were merely faking the lieutenant out so that Blake and Ventus would have an opening to throw him off balance and then slip past, but not before Stitch had jumped up on his head and shoved his mask down so that he would be blinded for a moment.

Taking a moment to fix his mask, the lieutenant was more than a little annoyed, but when he realized who one of his current opponents was, he chuckled menacingly while revving up his weaponized chainsaw and growled, "Finally, I get to kill a Schnee."

"You and your buddies are gonna have a hard time doing that, pal," Lea cautioned as he readied his Flame Liberator, while Weiss just spun the revolver in her rapier. A tense silence hung in the air for all but a few seconds until Lea finally asked Weiss, "So which one do you want, Ice Princess? The big stupid one or his ugly buddies?"

"I hold no preferences either way, so long as you don't blow up the train during whatever fight you pursue, Flame-Brain," Weiss smirked.

"Just making sure. Didn't want you to go after the Reapers so you could deal with any frustrations you still had towards Ruby," Lea joked, right before he suddenly rushed in to attack the Nobodies in question with one last, rapid comment. "Because I already called dibs on them!"

Weiss merely rolled her eyes, albeit with a slight playfulness before she was forced to get serious again and deflect the lieutenant's chainsaw with a quick spin of her rapier. Weiss was hardly worried about her opponent's larger size, having faced similar opponents before, and it showed when she easily spun and flipped around the lieutenant, avoiding his attacks and striking back with quick, precise strikes. Sure, she was not doing too much damage, but that was okay with her, because she was sure that she would be able to outlast him. Then again, Blake had said that this guy could take a lot of punishment, so Weiss knew that she could not afford to hold anything back when attacking.

Lea on the other hand had to do his best to hold back from using his usual level of power, so as not to set the train on fire and risk setting off the bombs. Not a great thing for someone who relied very heavily on using overwhelming power to win most of his fights, but the Flurry of Dancing Flames was nothing if not quick to adapt. Plus, since the Reapers fought in a way that was similar to Marluxia, Lea already knew plenty of tricks and openings that he could take advantage of in a fight. For instance, when they swung they tended to overreach a lot, and Lea just had to get behind them when he dodged so that they would be thrown off balance in his counterattack, and on more than one occasion, they would find a way to try and speed around the battlefield in an effort to throw him off, but since Lea knew what to watch for in such instances, he was able to block most of their attacks. That did not mean he did not use any fire spells at all, as proven when one particularly strong Firaga destroyed at least two Reapers after he had whittled their energy down a considerable amount. It was not much longer before Lea destroyed the last of the Reapers, and was able to turn his attention to helping Weiss deal with the lieutenant.

Just when he had turned around and started moving to help, Lea could not help but stop for a minute and wonder if Weiss really needed his help that badly. The girl was certainly giving the lieutenant the runaround in the fight, and her advantage looked like it would continue to hold when she activated her time dilation glyph to increase her speed. To make things even more problematic for the White Fang lieutenant, a number of Weiss regular glyphs appeared around him soon after, allowing Weiss to speedily land several consecutive blows on his person, over and over again. When her last glyph faded away, Weiss used a wall to rebound off of, and dealt a very strong strike to the lieutenant, sending him to the ground. Weiss's next attack would have impaled the big man right through his head, but the lieutenant managed to show how great his resilience was when he simply rolled back and avoided the blow.

Weiss was not deterred by this, and proceeded to leap towards him once more, only to end up with the lieutenant grabbing her by the face. The next thing Weiss knew, she was being slammed into the floor and tossed up in the air while the lieutenant swung his chainsaw weapon at her like a baseball bat. The only reason why the weapon never hit its mark was because due to Lea making a timely intervention and blocking the attack with one of his chakrams. Using the other one, Lea managed to push the lieutenant back, and then proceeded to slash at him with several more strikes. Using the momentum of his last two blows, Lea finished off his attack with a powerful spin kick that pushed the lieutenant further back, much to his frustration.

"Oh I'm sorry. Did that hurt," Lea mockingly smirked as he let his trusted weapons hang loosely in his hands. His chakrams then started to be lit ablaze, and he shouted, "C'mere, I'll make it all stop!"

Lea then rushed in to land a few more fast, burning attacks to the lieutenant, but since the White Fang Faunus was now expecting Lea to attack, he was able to better dodge, deflect, or even shoulder the blows that Lea threw. That last one was something he tried to avoid having to do, given that most of Lea's attacks were very likely to set him on fire, but either way, Lea was no longer holding the element of surprise on his side, and the lieutenant eventually managed to push him back. This irritated the redhead, even more so since it forced him to change his chakrams back into his Keyblade again, but thankfully, he was spared from receiving any additional pain when the lieutenant suddenly found himself being held in place by a familiar, black glyph.

"Lea, hit him now," Weiss shouted as she held onto the lieutenant with her gravity glyph.

"You got it, Weiss," Lea called back, and he did not hesitate to slash his Keyblade at the big man with everything he had while the lieutenant was unable to move from his current spot.

When the gravity glyph finally released the lieutenant, he was already very torn up, and Weiss made sure to make it even worse for him via another barrage of fast strikes from multiple different angles. Under the combined assault of this fire and ice duo, the lieutenant could not hold up for very long, and eventually just dropped to the floor, both due to his Aura being exhausted, and the overabundance of injury that the two heroes had inflicted onto him.

A hard won victory does take its toll on a fighter, but thankfully, Weiss and Lea were just a little exhausted. Any injuries they had taken were easily dealt with by downing a Potion or two, and Weiss's recovery was even more quick thanks to her Aura, so they were soon back to exchanging their usual banter with each other. "Not bad, for a crazy pyro," Weiss complimented in her own way.

"You did alright too, I guess, for a spoiled brat," Lea jabbed back, his smile showing that he was not entirely serious.

For a minute, the two were silent, until Weiss finally just laughed and said, "We're never going to be able to cooperate or converse like normal people, are we?"

"Eh, normal's overrated anyway," Lea shrugged as he laughed too. "Now what do you say we go help stop this train?"

"I was just about to ask you that same thing, but I'm sure that you're more interested in making sure that Blake and Ven haven't already defeated all of our foes," Weiss smirked.

"Only if they're Ninjas. I love taking down Ninjas. It's the closest I'll ever get to taking down Larxene," Lea confessed.

"You really don't care for this Larxene woman, do you," Weiss noted.

"Trust me; you should consider yourself lucky that you never met her, because if you had, you wouldn't like her either."

* * *

It did not take much longer for Ventus, Blake, and Stitch to finally reach the engine after they parted from Weiss and Lea, but the company they found upon arrival was certainly far from desirable. The lack of any Nobodies did very little to improve that, or change how viciously Blake was glaring at the opponent that now stood in their way.

"Hello kids! You miss me," Torchwick quipped as he spun his cane about. "You know, the three of us have got to stop meeting like this. People are going to talk."

"I think you have me confused for the other blonde on my team," Ventus quipped as he called Wayward Wind into his hand.

Seeing the one Keyblade and how its wielder was holding it in a reverse grip, Torchwick managed to realize his mistake, but just shrugged it off as no big deal. "Hey, it's your fault for looking like you could be the other one's twin or clone. Maybe you should consider getting a new look to change that."

Ventus merely rolled his eyes, before replying, "Yeah, like I'm gonna take fashion advice from a guy wearing a cheap mobster suit."

Roman's only response was to start marching towards the two, growling under his breath, and while Ventus was more than ready for a fight, Blake had already taken off to engage him. Ventus was already worried, given that Blake's charge was leaving her wide open, but the cat Faunus proved that it was part of her plan when she used her Semblance to create a clone to take the hit and get behind Torchwick. This was not one of her normal shadows, though; this time, when the clone appeared, it was made up of fire, and instantly exploded after Roman had gotten too close. While the criminal was airborne, Blake managed to land several aerial attacks to increase the damage he was dealt, right to the point where Ventus actually winced a little when Torchwick hit the ground again. It did not stop Roman for very long though, as he easily readied his cane to fire a blast at Blake. The blast seemed to hit its target, but it turned out that Blake had used her Semblance once more, this time creating a clone made of stone so that she was protected from the blast and able to charge for another run.

Torchwick did everything he could to try and hit Blake, but once again, with her Semblance backing her up, Blake's skill as a swordswoman proved to be too much for him to handle, as she deflected or blocked every strike that Roman made, while pushing him back with several swings of her two blades. The next time Torchwick found an opening, it ended up being a bad move on his part, as Blake's Semblance ended up allowing her to create an ice clone that Roman ended up lodging his cane in, leaving him wide open for Blake's final attack as he struggled to remove his weapon from the ice. That attack came just as fast as usual for Blake, and like that, Torchwick seemed to be knocked out of the fight.

As he watched Blake move to subdue or restrain the irritating criminal, Ventus looked to Stitch and said, "Suddenly I'm wondering why we even needed to be here." Right after he had spoken, several Ninjas appeared and attacked Blake, preventing her from getting close enough to pin Torchwick down. "Oh yeah, that's why," Ventus muttered, and he then dropped into his usual battle stance, ready to charge. But not before he spared a few words for his old friend. "Stitch, you get up to the control room and see if you can find anything that might stop those bombs or this train. We'll handle things here."

Stitch just grunted in response and scurried past the battlefield, only stopping long enough to shoot a few enemies with his blasters as he went, and once Ven had used and ice spell to keep Roman where he was, he and Blake entered into battle with the former followers of Larxene. What followed was a face-off of speed against speed, as the two heroes were just fast enough to close the distance between them and any one of their opponents, while at the same time, the Ninjas were able to get clear and strike hard and fast at nearly the same speed. The only real advantage that the Ninjas had on Ventus and Blake was that there were so many of them, and that was starting to become less of a problem with each passing second.

Blake's only problem in this fight was that she had not really fought alongside of Ventus all that much, as the Keyblade wielder that she usually worked with was Roxas, but she was able to adapt pretty quickly. Since Ventus was a speed-fighter like her, Blake had no trouble keeping up with him, and was happy to know that he was able to cover her wherever she was left open while she did the same for him. On the other end of things, Ventus was also thankful that Blake was able to create various different types of shadows now, as they made dealing with the Ninjas go much faster if he only had his own magic spells to rely on. That was not to say that he did not use any magic at all, but it was still nice to not have to expend so much of his own magic when Blake had some elemental attacks that were almost if not just as good.

"Guess Weiss wasn't kidding when she said that Dust clip was going to be a big help for you," Ventus remarked as he cut down another two Ninjas.

Blake merely shot him her usual cat-like smile after slashing through three more Ninjas and then blasting a few more with Ice Dust using Gambol Shroud's pistol mode, and replied, "Just what you should expect from the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, and _your_ Snow Angel."

"Okay first off, I've never called Weiss that. Second, don't you start too," Ventus pleaded after cutting down the Ninjas that Blake had frozen. "I've already got enough to deal with from Aqua's teasing on the matter of me and Weiss."

"And yet, you're not denying that there's something between you two," Blake pointed out, her smile not falling in the slightest.

"Are we seriously having this conversation while fighting bad guys," Ventus asked. "Because if we are, don't think I'm not going to ask how you think things are going to develop for you and Sun going forward."

The blush on Blake's face was enough for Ventus to know he had her there, and the two spent the rest of the fight destroying whatever Ninjas remained in relative silence, aside from the necessary exchanges of dialogue. That is, until several Dusks got the drop on Ventus and bashed him into a wall. In his disoriented state, Ventus was unable to defend himself from the next round of lightning-based attacks that the Ninjas directed at him, and let out a cry of pain from the serious shock of electricity that wracked his body as a result.

"Ven! Hang on," Blake called out, only for her path to be blocked by both more Dusks and a recently freed Torchwick.

"I think you've got a few problems of your own to worry about, Blake," Roman smirked.

Blake grit her teeth and glared angrily at the criminal, knowing that he had her boxed in, even if she were to try and use her Semblance right now, and from the look of how the other Dusks and Ninjas were all focusing all of their attention on Ventus, it seemed clear that the blonde was not going to be able to use any healing spells or any of the Potions he still had on him. She could probably try to toss him one of hers, but that would not do much good, since Roman was more likely to blast it out of the air before it reached Ven, and even if he did not, Ventus would still need to drink it, and that just brought things right back around to the original problem.

Just when Blake was thinking about trying something risky, a certain little blue experiment could be heard shouting, "Abaquista!"

"What…" Roman started to ask, only for Stitch to suddenly jump onto his head and shove his hat down over his eyes. "Ah! What the fricklety frack?! Someone get this thing off my hat!"

Stitch just laughed like a maniac as the Dusks all tried and failed to get at him, while he just made Roman spin this way and that, making the criminal accidentally hit or shoot his own henchmen. Watching Roman struggle with Stitch like this was already a pretty amusing sight to see, but when he suddenly crawled down to lick Roman all over the face as disgustingly as possible and then give the crook a wet-wily, Blake could not help but giggle at the sight. It did not stop her from being able to move and help Ventus, with his attackers, though, and after she had, the three were all able to get in on the action, Stitch doing so with his blasters.

Irritated by the humiliation that he had just been dealt, Roman did not hesitate in trying to blast Stitch for what the little blue alien did, but to his and everyone else's surprise, Stitch not only survived the blast, but ended up catching it in his bare hands before balling it up like a snowball. "Well, that's…different," was all Torchwick could think of to say at the bizarre sight.

"Hehehehe…Eh! Oh! AH," Stitch gasped as he started juggling the fire blast he just caught until he finally just threw it back at Roman.

"GAH," Roman cried out. "Why you little…I'll skin you alive for that, you freak!"

"Naga! Stitch not freak! STITCH FLUFFY," Stitch shouted as he drew his blasters again and fired shot after shot at Roman, while bouncing around the room like a volleyball, taking out several of the remaining Nobodies with each bounce. He ended up landing on the ceiling soon after, where he crossed his arms smugly, and said, "Keplarma chiggie!"

"What," Roman and Blake both asked.

"I'm pretty sure he just insulted your mom, Torchwick," Ventus guessed with a teasing grin.

"OH! Leave my mother out of this," Torchwick shouted, now appearing really upset as he tried to blast Stitch again.

The little blue alien just jumped down to avoid the shot, and scooped something up that he then used to plug up Roman's cane the next time he tried to fire it. "HA," Stitch laughed triumphantly.

Roman looked frantically between the alien and his cane, obviously knowing what was going to come next since he was about to fire it when it was plugged, and quickly, "You know, now that I think about it, a cane that's also a gun isn't the most safe thing, so why don't you guys go ahead and take this."

He then tossed the cane over to Stitch and tried to make a run for it, only to stop when he felt Stitch tugging at his pants leg. When Torchwick turned to kick him off, Stitch quickly tossed the cane back and said, "Merry Christmas."

"It's not Christmas!"

"Happy Hanukah!"

"Uh, I think we should back away now," Ventus told Blake as they continued watching Stitch and Torchwick play Hot Potato with the latter's cane.

Blake just nodded as she and Ventus turned and ran as far back as they could without leaving the train car, until the cat Faunus asked, "Wait, what about Stitch?"

"Don't worry. He'll be fine," Ventus assured her.

On and on, Stitch and Torchwick passed the cane between them, the latter not realizing that they had actually commenced an actual game of Hot Potato as they did so, until finally, the cane ended up in Roman's hands, and he grinned as he boasted, "Haha! I win!" He turned to further rub his victory in Stitch's face, only to see the little guy rushing over to where Ventus and Blake were, the former of which was already in the process of casting a barrier spell to better contain the blast, and after looking back to his cane, he quickly remembered why he was trying to get rid of it. "Oh…"

One explosion later and Torchwick was down for the count. Alive, but unarmed and beaten, and thanks to Ven's spell, the blast did not spread to the rest of the train. "Nice one, Stitch," Ventus laughed.

"Yeah, who's a good boy? Who's a fluffy little hero," Blake cooed as she scratched Stitch's chin, much to his pleasure. When she realized what she was doing, she leveled looks at both boys and said, "If either of you tell anyone about this, I will shave you both."

"Oketaka," Stitch happily agreed.

"Come on. Let's see if Torchwick's got something on him to stop those bombs," Ventus directed them. Unfortunately, that was where their good mood ended, because a quick search of Roman's person turned up nothing, and after looking into the control room, they found the console completely smashed up. "Oh, this is not good."

"What's not good," Lea's voice asked, prompting the three to turn and see the redhead and Weiss had just arrived.

"Roman smashed the controls, and we can't find anything else that might stop the bombs," Blake reported.

"Stitch, do you think you might be able to salvage anything from this," Ventus asked.

Stitch's only response was more alien gibberish and a cracking of his knuckles as he prepared to get working on the remains of the console, but right when he had approached it, his body began glowing and then fading away. "Uh-oh," Stitch gasped, knowing that his time here was up. "Uh…Bye-bye!"

The next thing they knew, Stitch had completely disappeared, and they knew that could only mean one thing. "I guess that fight with Roman zapped away all of his energy," Blake guessed. "Now what do we do?"

"Get in touch with Yang and Roxas, and then meet back up top with the others," Weiss suggested.

"Not like we've got any better ideas," Lea shrugged as he dialed up his best friend, and with that they turned to exit the train and return to the roof, hoping that Sora and Ruby's group was having better luck than them.

* * *

Yang's fight against Neo did not get better with time. Instead, the smaller girl ended up completely owning Yang right to the point where the blonde eventually ended up knocked out on the floor and completely vulnerable for Neo to finish her off. Drawing the sword that was hidden in the handle of her umbrella, Neo had every intention of ending things right then and there with a satisfied, wicked grin etched onto her face, but just as she was drawing her blade back, something came in and slashed at her, forcing her to back off. It ended up not just being one thing though, as several more blades were soon sailing through the air to strike her, and there was no way that they all could have come from just one person. When the attacks finally ceased, Neo turned to see who was responsible, and let out a silent gasp at what she saw.

There, standing tall and proud was none other than Roxas, holding both of his Keyblades at the ready and looking very much like a general ready to signal his forces to attack, and from the way that every one of the Samurai Nobodies were gathered behind him, it was pretty clear that he might as well have been just that. Not a single Samurai showed any sign of being likely to attack the dual-Keyblade wielder, and that was a little concerning for Neo. Not that it kept her from being curious as to how the blonde had managed to sway these creatures over to his control.

Her question must have shown on her face, because Roxas soon explained, "The thing about Samurais is that they always follow a code of honor, one that prohibits them from attacking their commanders without reason, especially when that commander respects them enough to not treat them as slaves. Now, stand down. Final warning."

Neo just looked at Roxas with a small smile before she moved her umbrella around so she as holding it under her arm, pulled out her Scroll, and typed something on it that she then turned to Roxas. The blonde figured that the girl wanted him to read whatever she had typed, but there was just one problem with that. "You know I can't read that from here, right," he asked. Neo's response was to wave him over. "What? No! I'm not falling for that. The minute I get close enough, you're just going to attack me," Roxas denied, only for the girl to raise both hands up as if to say she would not do so if he came close enough to read what she had typed. Seeing that she was appearing honest in her claim, Roxas glanced over to the Samurai and whispered, "If she tries anything, don't hesitate to attack, even if I'm still in the line of fire."

A faint sound that he registered to mean "Yes, my liege" rang through Roxas's head in response to his order, and he slowly approached Neo so he could see what she had typed. Looking down at the Scroll, Roxas then read aloud, "'You're funny, cutie, but I'm afraid that I can't do that.'" Ignoring the cutie comment, Roxas just looked at Neo and asked, "And you couldn't just say that?"

Neo shook her head in the negative, and then patted her throat with the hand that wasn't holding her Scroll, cluing Roxas in on what she was trying to say without needing her to type it out for him. "Wait, you…can't speak at all," he asked.

In response, Neo typed out another message on her Scroll and held it out for Roxas to read. "'I don't know. I've never tried,'" Roxas read before shooting her a flat look. "Okay, now I _know_ you're just messing with me."

Neo merely shrugged in response and quickly pocketed her Scroll again before spinning around to attack him with her umbrella. Luckily, Roxas managed to jump clear, and allowed the Samurai to carry out their orders. Even with this new reinforcement though, Roxas was not able to get a leg up on Neo, especially since the only reason he had gotten one before was because he had the element of surprise on his side. Now that it was no longer there, Neo was able to handle rather well. He could still see signs of her struggling, but not to the point where she appeared to be worried. It was not until after one of the Samurai ended up destroyed by the multi-colored girl that Roxas really grew concerned, but only for his newly reacquired followers.

"Samurai! Disperse!" Roxas ordered, making the Nobodies pause and give him what he knew to be questioning looks. "Just go! I promise I'll call you if and when I ever need you."

The Samurai hesitated for a few more seconds until they finally began disappearing under their own volition, leaving Roxas and Neo alone in the train car with the unconscious Yang. Seeing this, Neo merely smirked and pulled out her Scroll again and typed out another message for him on her Scroll. Roxas did not need to move closer to her this time, but the message did leave him feeling a little flustered.

_'Guess it's just you and me now, cutie,'_ Neo's message read.

"Yeah, I'm…flattered by the affection, Neo, but I have a girlfriend," Roxas informed the short girl, hoping that she would not take offense to how he hesitated before mentioning how he felt about receiving such attention from a criminal.

Neo just kept smiling as she typed out another message, and this one left Roxas a little more flustered than the first. _'I know. I remember seeing you and her together at the rally, and she's pretty cute too. I wouldn't mind having to share either of you with each other. ;)'_

Roxas had gotten pretty used to hearing others call him and/or Xion things like cute, but this was the first time that someone had said something like that to him, so he was understandably shocked that Neo had done so in such a blatant manner. Sure, she had not actually said the words, but typing them out was clearly enough to rattle his mind. The wink emoji at the end did not help his state of mind, and that ended up leaving him open for when Neo attacked. Since Roxas's mind was such a muddled mess, Neo was able to slip past his guard and easily knock him down.

After landing near Yang, Roxas growled under his breath as he glared at Neo, thinking that she had pulled a cheap trick on him, until Neo showed him another message she had typed out on her Scroll, that said, _'Like I was saying, I wouldn't mind sharing either of you with each other, if we were on the same side, but unfortunately, we're not, so I've gotta kill you now.'_

"Okay, you can stop…uh, typing things like that now," Roxas told her.

Neo just shrugged and drew her hidden blade again, ready to end either Roxas or Yang's lives, when suddenly, another surprise attacker came at her, forcing Neo away from both blondes. This time when Neo laid eyes on the surprise guest to the fight, she seemed to get genuinely scared, and Roxas could not blame the two-toned girl, given the look of this new arrival. If he had to describe her in as few words as possible, Roxas would definitely say that the best way to describe this lady was scary.

The person in question was a tall, imposing woman, with long black hair, and a sword held at her waist, the scabbard it was stored in appearing to have a rotary chamber loaded with multiple kinds of Dust, while her outfit was mainly colored black and dark crimson. As if to make her appear even more intimidating, the mystery woman also wore a helmet that not only hid her entire face from view, but looked a lot like a Grimm mask, but somehow, Roxas knew that she was definitely not with the White Fang, as her mask seemed far more elaborate than those of the Faunus group. The thing that really drove home was just how long her sword appeared to be when she drew it once again, and how the blade had appeared to have turned a deep, blood red color after she seemed to infuse it with some Fire Dust. In that moment, Roxas was glad that this swordswoman was not facing him, because he was sure that, even without the mask, she would be giving her target a various dangerous, fear-inducing gaze.

Seeing how pale Neo's face had become, and how her eyes even changed color to match that paleness, Roxas would say that was a very solid guess. Not only that, but Neo turned out to be so scared of this woman that she actually made ran away, disappearing in a flash of light via her Semblance, similar to how she and Torchwick had on the night when he and his friends first encountered her. As relieved as he was to see her gone, Neo's departure came with the downside of leaving Roxas alone with the scary, mystery woman, and Yang did not seem like she was going to be getting up any time soon. So when the woman turned to face both him and his friend, Roxas did his best to swallow any trepidation he had, and moved himself between Yang and this stranger.

"If you want to hurt her, you're going to have to go through me first," Roxas challenged as bravely as he could, but he was sure that it had come off rather feebly.

The woman did not say or do anything for a time other than simply staring at both him and Yang, but for some reason, Roxas just knew that her gaze was lingering more on the blonde behind him. Finally, after several more tense seconds, the woman did swing her sword, not at Roxas, but at the air next to them, and to his surprise, a black and red portal of some kind opened as a result. The woman then sheathed her sword with a simple flourish of her blade, and proceeded to back away from the two, not taking her hidden gaze off of them for a little longer. Of course, Roxas was now even more certain that she was mainly looking at Yang, for some reason, and his certainty grew when the woman finally spoke in a voice that sent chills up his spine yet still seemed to hold a very tiny bit of sweetness to it.

"Tell your redhead friend that he'd better take care of her, or I'll be coming for his head, and no magic or other worldly powers he might have will be able to keep him safe from me," the woman told Roxas.

Her comment confused Roxas quite a bit, leaving him wondering how this woman could know anything about Yang and Lea's growing relationship, never mind about how it seemed like she knew about their powers and origins, until something finally started to click into place for him. "W-wait," he nervously called out, making the woman pause. "Are…Are you…Raven?"

Once again, the woman kept silent, but only for a brief period, after which she let out what sounded like a short laugh and said, "I look forward to the moment when I next cross paths with you or your other friends, Keyblade wielder. Just pray that we're not on opposing sides when it happens."

That served as all the confirmation that Roxas needed to know that this woman definitely knew about him and his other friends from other worlds, but more than that, it gave him final confirmation that she definitely was Yang's long-lost mother. He was not sure what to think at this point. Should he tell Yang that her mother had just saved them? How would she react to that news? His mind was so riddled with questions about this event that he did not even realize that Yang had already woken up and was now trying to get his attention after seeing her mother disappear through her strange portal.

"ROXAS," Yang finally shouted almost right in his ear, startling him out of his stupor at last. "What happened to the Samurais? Where did Neo go? Who was that woman just now? Was that…?"

"Yang…I think…I think that was your mom," Roxas interrupted in little more than a whisper.

Yang seemed to take the news pretty well, all things considered, but from where Roxas was standing, it seemed like she had completely shut down from the shock. "She…she was really here," Yang eventually whispered. "That was her just now?"

"Yang, I know this is probably a lot to take in, but we've got to meet up with the others," Roxas told her, grasping her shoulders as if to make sure he had her attention focused on him. "Axel called me a moment ago and said that they couldn't find a way to stop the bombs, so they're going back up top to regroup with Sora and the others. Meaning we need to move, right now."

"R-right. Right, questions for another time," Yang nodded, mentally slapping herself to regain her focus and get back on track as she and Roxas quickly exited the train car. As they were going though, she spared another glance in her friend's direction and asked, "Did she…say anything to you?"

"Only to tell Axel that he needs to treat you right if he wants to live," Roxas replied as simply as he could.

"I see," Yang nodded, blushing a little bit over what that implied about her and the redheaded pyro. It was actually right at that point that she also noticed something was off with her friend. "Hey, are you okay, Roxas? Your face is looking kinda red."

"Uh, y-yeah! Yeah, I'm, uh…I'm fine. Just a little out of breath," Roxas stuttered, while trying not to think about the stuff Neo had said to him during their face-off. Yang seemed to drop the matter after that, but it did not stop Roxas from mentally promising himself to not tell Xion about this. The two-toned girl had already given her a few chills the first time that Xion saw her; the last thing Roxas wanted was to creep her out anymore with that information.

* * *

Sora spun around rapidly while sending a pair of yo-yos flying into the Paladins and Reapers that were after him and his friends. Of course, these were not your average yoyos. These were the Twin Yo-Yos, the second Formchange of his Happy Gear Keyblade, and they packed quite the monstrous punch, as several monsters and bad guys quickly realized, right alongside of Ruby and Oobleck. Aqua was not as surprised by the crazy weapons because she had seen them in action a few times before, so she was able to keep her wits about and help Sora deal with his opponents without ending up frozen from the shock.

Evidence of Aqua's lack of surprise over Sora's weapon was shown when she blasted several of the Nobodies with some of her most powerful spells after Sora had tied them up using the energy strings of his monstrous yo-yos. She did not stop there though, as Aqua was soon unleashing one of her own unique Keyblade attacks, Wishing Edge, to hit the enemies around her three times over in a single, leaping spin attack. Once Sora had spun around several times over while sending the Twin Yo-Yos flying, the last of the Reapers and Berserkers that were in their way ended up destroyed, save for one or two of each, but Sora was far from done.

"Hey, any of you ever seen this one before," Sora shouted as he sent the monster yo-yos flying forward. The next thing everyone knew, the yo-yos expanded to a massive size and changed into a large, monstrous mouth with razor sharp teeth. Teeth that chopped down on those last two Nobodies several times over until they finally ended up turned to dust and smoke.

With his attack complete, Sora's weapons changed back into the Happy Gear Keyblade, and he turned to go and help Ruby with her fight, but from the sound of explosions that followed after the two, echoing blasts, he got the feeling that Ruby did not really need that much help. Considering that another, burning Paladin just went tumbling off the train and down the tracks, it was more than likely a very good hunch. Too bad for the heroes that there were more Paladins on the way with a few Reapers and Berserkers as well, much to their irritation.

"Give me a break," Sora groaned as he changed Happy Gear into Shooting Star, already gearing up to change said Keyblade into Double Arrowguns. "We're never going to get to the engine at this rate."

"Only if we continue to stick together," Aqua remarked, and after a brief nod to the Beacon professor, she knew that Oobleck had the same idea as her.

"Ruby, Sora, you two go on ahead," Oobleck ordered. "Aqua and I will handle things from here."

"Are you sure," Ruby asked, not too fond of leaving anyone behind for any reason, even if they could take care of themselves.

"Don't worry, Ruby. We'll be fine. I just need to teach them a new lesson," Oobleck promised, and with that, he turned and ran off to face their foes.

When she saw the couple turn and face her, Aqua merely shrugged and said, "You heard the man. We've got this covered. Besides, I've yet to really dazzle them with some real magic."

Aqua then turned to join Oobleck in his charge, blasting the closest enemies with whatever magic she had before she finally just leapt into the air to unleash one of her most powerful attacks on the bad guys: Magic Hour. Seeing that attack and how many enemies it left devastated, Ruby and Sora were a little more assured that the two mission leaders could handle this and were now ready to carry out their orders. At least until a certain corgi let out a sad little whine, making Ruby turn to look down at Zwei.

Much like his owner, Zwei was not one to leave friends behind if he could help it, and from what she had seen, Ruby knew that her dog had certainly bonded with Oobleck at the very least, so she could understand why he did not want to leave just yet. Besides, the idea of leaving her adorable yet tough little doggy behind to look after those two did put Ruby's mind a little more at ease, so she could not help but smile as she nodded to Zwei and simply said, "Go on, boy. Make sure all of our friends stay safe."

Zwei's sad whine turned to a happy bark, and he then turned to chase after Oobleck and Aqua. As he watched the corgi go, Sora had to comment, "That's one loyal dog you've got there, Ruby."

"Yeah, I know," Ruby replied. She then got focused on the mission again and prepared to finish their run to the engine as she said, "Now let's stop this train."

Sora was going to nod in agreement, but that idea was abolished when he turned to face the front again and saw a very worrying sight. "Uh, I think we might be out of time for that," he informed Ruby. "We're about to hit the end of the line. Literally!"

Ruby gasped in fright when she saw that Sora was right. They were about to hit the wall that sealed the tunnels off from the main city of Vale, and the train was moving way too fast to be safely stopped at this point. Even if they did find a way to at least slow it down, it would still end up crashing through the wall, and there was no doubt that the bombs would finish the job of getting through if their friends did not find some way to stop them before they hit. Sadly, Ruby's prayers that the rest of their team had done so ended up going unanswered when said teammates appeared next to them.

"Hey, not to add to the bad news, but we couldn't find a way to stop the bombs," Lea reported. "And Torchwick destroyed the train's controls."

"What about Stitch? Couldn't he do anything to stop it," Sora inquired.

"He ran out of energy right when he was about to try," Ventus replied. "There's no way to stop this train without it crashing now."

"So what do we do now," Blake asked.

A simple glance between her and Ruby was all that Weiss needed to know what her leader had in mind for their reaction, a fact that spoke volumes about how far their teamwork had come since the early days of their time at Beacon. However, just when Weiss was drawing her rapier and spinning its revolver to Ice Dust, Sora stepped forward and readied his Keyblade for something as well. "I've got this," Sora told them. "A little barrier or reflect magic should keep us from getting hit too hard when we crash."

"Wait, what," the rest of Team SLVR gasped in surprise.

"Sora, did you forget that you lost your ability to cast reflect magic after what Xehanort did to you in the sleeping worlds," Lea questioned. "Last I checked, you still couldn't use that kind of spell."

"Hey, I've been able to regain my ability to use Firaga Burst and the basic gravity spells, and with all the practice I've been doing lately, I'm sure I can use one of the stronger versions of Reflect too," Sora stated in his defense, but it did little to reassure his friends.

"You mean you don't even know for sure if you can or not," Roxas asked, now more worried about how likely this idea was to succeed.

"Maybe we should just let Weiss do her thing, Sora," Ventus suggested, having figured out what the look between the heiress and Ruby likely meant already.

"No offense to Weiss, but I don't think a little bit of ice will be enough to make sure we get through unscathed, and there's no telling what kind of damage would be inflicted to whatever's on the other side of that wall," Sora tried arguing.

"And a reflect spell would be the better option?! You do remember that the spell's barrier explodes outwards with several times the damage it took after it gets hit, right," Ventus countered.

"We don't have time to argue! Let's just do both," Ruby finally cut in.

Weiss did not wait for anyone to dispute the idea, and instead just created as big of an ice barrier around them as she could, while Sora took a defensive stance with his Keyblade held forwards, and shouted the name of the spell he wanted to cast. "REFLEGA!"

Just before the eight students had been concealed behind the barrier of ice, a large dome of light also materialized around them all. The only thing anyone on Team RWBY or SLVR could see after that was the ice and barrier surrounding them, until their vision went white at the moment when the train finally crashed with a loud boom.

* * *

It was hard to know for sure just how long they were out, but judging by the orange tint of the sky, it was obvious that it was somewhere around or during sunrise. Not that anyone on either Team RWBY or SLVR was able to really enjoy the colors that always came with the beginning of the day, because at the moment, they were busy taking stock of their injuries from the recent crash while glancing about to try to check on each other.

"Is…Is everyone okay," Sora groaned as he tried to sit up and crawl over to where he thought Ruby was.

"Weiss…Weiss are you alright," Ventus asked of the heiress instead of answering Sora.

"I think so, Ven," Weiss muttered while accepting the extra hand up, along with the vial of Hi-Potion that the blonde handed to her.

"I'm okay," Blake confirmed while shaking her head to rid herself of any cobwebs.

"Same here," Roxas nodded. He grunted soon after and amended, "Well, my side and arms kind of hurt a little, but I don't think it's anything serious. Just a little bruise or flesh wound."

"Aside from the ringing in my ears, I'm okay too," Lea reported while checking on Yang, who was still coughing from all the dust in the air.

Ruby was about to ask Sora how he was doing, even as she winced in her attempts to sit up, until she picked up on a certain fact about that ringing Lea was talking about: it was not going away, and the actual sound of it was far more worrying. "I don't think that's just your ears ringing, Lea," she said.

When the eight started taking in their surroundings, it became clear that the ringing Lea and Ruby were talking about was actually an alarm, and that said alarm was echoing all throughout the main square of Vale City. To make matters worse, it looked like the people in the area were more curious about the crash site that they were all sitting in than they were concerned over why the alarms were blaring, and when the ground started shaking underneath the two teams of heroes, the citizens were about to find out why they should not have been standing around staring at them right now.

"Everyone get back! Evacuate the area, now," Ventus shouted as loudly as he could, ignoring how his head seemed to hurt a little more from the volume of his voice.

"You heard the man! Beat it! This area isn't safe," Lea screamed when no one seemed to pay his friend any mind.

Still, the civilians just stared at them, until the shaking beneath their feet grew strong enough for them to finally get a good idea on what the boys were talking about. The point of how dangerous this location was ended up being driven home really quickly when a massive King Taijitu burst out from the ground, along with several other types of Grimm and all sorts of Heartless soon after. Panic immediately flooded the streets, drawing the Grimm in every direction as the civilians scrambled to get away, and the Heartless did not make things any better, as they were all soon pouncing on anyone that they could reach before the soulless abominations. When the dwellers of darkness finally started claiming victims, it was not long before someone realized that every person that fell to these strange, yellow-eyed, black creatures was being transformed into another one of them, and the panicked screams grew louder and more frequent.

As if that was not bad enough, but as soon as the Heartless had gotten well into the city with the Grimm, several Dusks joined in on the rampage as well, and it was only natural that the people of Vale were quick to run and scream in fear of these silvery-white creatures after seeing what the Heartless were doing to people. This increase in fear seemed to draw the Grimm in like a mouse to a cheese factory, because they soon came even faster and more aggressively than ever, and the sight of all this chaos, destruction, and terror unfolding was far too much for anyone to take in, never mind the heroes that had just tried so hard to prevent his from happening.

"I don't…I don't believe it," Blake whispered in terror. "Vale's…Vale's been breached. The Grimm have gotten into the city."

"Not just the Grimm. The Heartless too, and with the Nobodies practically coordinating the attack…" Ventus trailed off at the end, unable to finish his thought.

"The whole city could fall in a matter of hours," Lea concluded for his blonde friend.

"So…we failed," Yang hesitantly asked, not sure if she would like the answer.

"…No," Ruby answered, her eyes narrowing in determination as she forced herself to stand up again. She did not even need to drink the Hi-Potion that Sora had offered her to make it happen; Ruby's sheer determination and force of will was enough to help her get back up and prepare to make a final stand. "We haven't failed yet. As long as there's even a single person in the city left to protect, and so long as we can still fight, then it's our job to keep going no matter what."

"She's right," Sora agreed, and he quickly cast his strongest healing spell over their entire group. As the others stood up, Sora quickly retrieved an Ether from his pocket that he used to replenish his magic energy, and stated, "This isn't over yet. Not while our hearts remain strong, and definitely not without a fight."

* * *

**_AN: Okay wow. All that happened. Some character development, some bad guy bashing, a lot of other crazy developments, and we end it all on a cliffhanger! Yeah, I'm kinda evil like that, ain't I?_**

**_Ruby: Only just a little bit. Is there really that much you can talk about regarding what happened without answering reviews at the same time?_**

**_AN: I'm pretty sure there's more than a few things. For instance, I'm sure you all noticed that I had an opportunity to get Ruby out of being caught by the White Fang earlier, but didn't. Well there is a reason for that. For one thing, it has been mentioned time and again that Ruby's a lot like Sora, especially in the case of Pre-KH3 Sora (or more accurately in this case, Sora before the events of this story), and if there's one thing that's always constant about Sora, it's that he tends to act first and think second. Ruby's not always been that way, but from what I've seen in the earlier volumes of RWBY, she did have that tendency quite a bit. Example: when she tried to 1v1 a Deathstalker, and a Nevermore. So of course I'm going to have her keep that up. Besides, it also gave us an opening for Sora to nearly go into Rage Mode again. You didn't think that would stop being a problem just because he's gotten out of his angsty funk did you?_**

**_Moving along to more important stuff, let's talk about the heart-to-heart moment that the guys got in on with the girls. I'll be honest, it was not all that hard for me to come up with some of the stuff that Ventus, Roxas, and Lea were going to say, at least in regards to the really important things and grievances. That's honestly what I feel like would be their hang-ups a good deal of the time, be it in canon or just in this story. Lea's gotta find a new purpose/reason for being a Keyblade wielder now that most of his friends are rescued, Roxas is trying to figure out how to live his life now that he actually can live his own life, and Ven's just worried that his quest for answers may tear him away from all that he loves. These are all very valid concerns that they have and will end up addressing later on down the line, but it will be a while before it happens. Honestly, when it comes to character development from this point onwards, I feel like it's going to be more of a slow burn for most of the characters, especially in the case of our leading Keyblade wielders._**

**_Sora: Hey, how about the fact that we finally got the Gummiwatch tracking device thing working right?_**

**_AN: Yeah, I bet you all thought that was going to become a running gag for a while, didn't you? I mean, come on! What's the point of always mentioning that the watches have trackers in them if they're always getting messed with or having something happen that makes them useless? I've gotta give them at least one win with those things, you know._**

**_Speaking of fun times, we finally saw a summon appear in the story, and it's none other than a favorite among Kingdom Hearts summons (at least as far as I can tell), everyone's favorite little blue alien: Stitch! Yeah, I know it probably seems like a bit of a waste to have him show up and only be part of one fight before disappearing, and that I probably could've set things up so that they did end up finding a way to stop the train somehow (don't ask me how, because I'm not entirely sure at the moment of writing this), but really, there's a lot of important things that unfolded because of the Breach. Don't worry though, the actual battle of the Breach will have more than a few changes to it, besides the fact that the Keyblade heroes, Heartless, and Nobodies are all involved._**

**_Anyways, back on the topic of Stitch, you guys all caught each of the little references to his franchises that were worked in, right? I mean, one of them is a gag that I did in my very first Kingdom Hearts story, so it shouldn't have been too hard to miss._**

**_Lea: You know, I'm pretty sure that they don't have Christmas on Remnant, hence the reason why in that one RWBY Chibi episode everyone called it Non-Descript Winter Holiday._**

**_AN: Dude, it was obviously Christmas and we all know it. I say that it works here. BTW, how many of you were happy to see that Lea's assistance in Weiss's fight allowed her to avoid getting beaten down? Yeah, I know a lot of you were glad for that alone._**

**_Oh, and let's not forget about what happened during the face-off of Yang and Roxas vs. Neo and the Samurais. Yes, Roxas now has command of the Samurais again, but it'll be a lot like how Sora can still control the Dream Eaters, so don't get too excited about that. If you're wondering why Roxas's could take back control of his old underlings while Lea couldn't, well the answer's pretty simple: I'm of the mind that Roxas never really treated the Samurais like they were just underlings or followers, but more like they were friends or comrades at the very least. Plus, like it said in the story, Samurai are known to follow a code of honor, and if that does carry over to the Samurai Nobodies, then I'm sure that it would be no problem for Roxas to earn their loyalty back, even if he isn't technically a Nobody anymore._**

**_Roxas: Didn't stop you from having Neo admit that she had taken an interest in me and Xion._**

**_AN: Hey, it's not like I'm the first person to have Neo do something like that. Besides, did you really think I was going to mention how Neo had been the first to take notice of your group a few chapters back because of you and Xion, and not run with it a little more later on down the line? Neo just has that vibe of being a playful prankster/flirt, you know, when she's not being a dangerous little killer, like in some of her more recent appearances. Or when she's acting out on her loyalty to Torchwick that may or may not imply something a little deeper than just a working relationship. In all seriousness, does anyone know or at least have an actual guess on just how old Neo is? I mean, I've heard all the comments about how Neo's only the same height as everyone else in RWBY Chibi and such, and it's pretty clear that Cinder and some of her gang are a little too old to have been considered as students at some points, but I still can't tell if Neo's actually older than she looks, or if she actually is as old as she looks. Ah, a mystery for another time, I guess._**

**_And yeah, I had Neo use her Scroll to type out messages as opposed to the signs she's always using in RWBY Chibi here. It makes a lot more sense when you really think about it, if Neo were to do that with people who can't understand her via her usual methods of communication, plus, this isn't the Chibi version of this series, so of course I'm not going to have her follow the communication styles of Wil E. Coyote._**

**_Finally, yes, I still had Raven come in to save Yang and Roxas, but only because that was the first time Yang had seen her mother in years, if at all, outside of pictures, even if it was only for a brief moment. I wasn't going to take that away from her. Plus, I just really wanted her to get in that threat towards Lea, make her seem at least a little like a good mother (in a sense) before we see her acting like a villain in the sequel to this story._**

**_Yang: Hey! She's not a villain!_**

**_AN: A good deal of her actions in Volume 5 and a lot of the choices she's made before that don't really support that claim, Yang. I mean, I do get why she made some of those choices, but a lot of them are still pretty feeble excuses._**

**_Now that we've covered everything I was going to mention regarding the details of today's chapter, let's start rolling those review answers._**

**_"cbustroyer", I hear your concerns, and believe me, I get where you're coming from, but trust me, there will be some significant changes due to the involvment of Team SLVR and their friends. They just don't happen quite as often as you would probably like, but don't worry, you'll see that there is a method to my madness (and I use that last term figuratively). The big changes to the RWBY story will be happening very soon. Some of which you'll be seeing in the next chapter actually. Don't worry. You're cool in regards to the rant. I've mentioned before that sometimes, negative criticism can be just as good as the positive variety._**

_**"CrazzyTony", you may be right in saying that Sora probably does hold some animosity deep inside for the fact that his wielding the Keyblade has caused him a lot of trouble, but I'm pretty sure that it's buried very deep down there under all the excitement he normally has for taking on these adventures.**_

_**"Hamm1999", I don't think you have too much to worry about there. We're still a long ways off from those moments in Hearts of Avengers, so by that point, it wouldn't really be much of a spoiler, considering everyone's more than likely to have seen it all by then.**_

_**"Dragon Rider 66", 1) Yeah, I'd say it was pretty good. 2) I think Ruby would probably have something similar to a skateboard, Yang a motorcycle-like vehicle (obviously), Blake, also a bike, Weiss, probably something like Aqua's, Jaune's would be a bike, Ren would likely have a waveboard like Ven's, Nora probably a skateboard as well, Pyrrha, also something similar to Aqua's, Winter also something like Aqua's, and finally, Qrow would get...a motorcycle thing. That's really the best and most basic answers I can come up with off the top of my head. And 3), I'm going with more of how things like travel between worlds and all that works in KH canon as opposed to how it works in Hearts of Avengers.**_

_**"twilightnite13", who says that there isn't some type of bad blood between the Heartless and the Grimm? Hehehehe...Can't say anymore about that just yet. The major details are a surprise for later on down the road, and which we'll get an early look at as soon as next chapter.**_

_**"Dracus6", once again, I'm afraid I have to say no to your request, because again, I still don't know anything about My Hero Academia, and I'm well aware of how easy it is to change that, but I just don't have the time at the moment between writing my other stories and all the other responsibilities I have in my life.**_

_**"SuperSaiyanFever", I think you just roasted Ironwood even better than Aqua had with that review. Also, that's one of my favorite Leonard Snart quotes ever. I really want to find some way to work that into one of my stories at some point just because of how cool I think it is.**_

_**"CT7567Rules", I do try and go a little more elaborate on specifics with weapons when I absolutely have to, but usually, I like to think that the most basic descriptions work pretty well a majority of the time, so I don't think I've got too much to worry about for the time being.**_

_**"Monkey D. Conan", as I said earlier, character growth is going to be a bit of a slow burn for almost everyone from here on out, but I do promise, we will see quite a bit of it for each of the characters you mentioned as time goes on, both in this story and in the sequel. And don't worry, there is a plan for Weiss and Ven to have such a conversation, and it will most likely happen during the next arc following this current one. And before you ask, no, it won't be the Vytal Festival aka RWBY Volume 3. No more spoilers than that though. You guys are going to have to wait and see what I have in mind for what happens after the Breach in the next chapter.**_

_**"invitingduke1", I never said that no one liked CoM or Re: CoM. Hey, if you like it, that's cool. The story of that game was pretty neat, but the popular opinion of the combat system said games use isn't really all that great. I mean, I don't really have that much of a problem with it myself, but that's mainly because whenever I play that game, it's always just for the sake of not wanting to skip over that part of the overall series story.**_

_**Okay, so I think that's all the reviews that I can answer this time, or at least the ones that I can answer without giving away spoilers, or without having to just simply leave it at "thanks" or something, but I am still very thankful for all of you who have given me such praise and criticisms on the story those far, so without further ado, it's that time again. Time to move...Onto the Preview!...**_

**_Vale's been breached, and the Grimm aren't the only thing on the attack. Heartless and Nobodies are flooding in by the hundreds if not thousands. Luckily Teams RWBY and SLVR are already on site to deal with the problem, but they can't hold the line on their own. Good thing that backup's already on the way in the form of several of their friends, and not just their fellow students either. A few other warriors are joining the action as well. How will our heroes hold out and prevail with the kind of reinforcements that they're getting? What will be the thing that ultimately proves to save Vale? And when it's all over, just what does Sora have in mind for them to do next? One chapter for all of our heroes ends as another begins, next time._**

**_Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy._**


	15. Dark Breach

**_AN: [seen talking with a random, faceless person (think the covered-in-shadows-people from RWBY Vol. 1 for better visual) who's likely got a receptionist or secretary-type job] Okay, so you've got things all lined up, right?_**

**_Dude at the Desk: [nods in reply]_**

**_AN: Next round of updates all cleared for both Remnant of the Key and our other projects?_**

**_Dude at the Desk: [nods again]_**

**_AN: Rehearsals for future chapters and stories underway and/or scheduled?_**

**_Dude at the Desk: [nods again]_**

**_AN: Pros and Cons lists for studio expansion to things like YouTube or deviantart set?_**

**_Dude at the Desk: [nods with a happy thumbs-up]_**

**_AN: Okay, great! I've just sent you a list of some other stuff I need you to do. You're probably going to be busy for the rest of the day, maybe most of tomorrow, so I'd hurry and get going now, if I were you._**

**_Dude at the Desk: [droops head down in despair]_**

**_AN: Oh, don't give me that look. You know what you signed up for when you said you...Oh! Crap! Audience has arrived! Ruby! Sora! I thought you guys promised to not let me lose track of time!_**

**_Ruby: [suddenly appears next to him via her Semblance] Sorry! I was busy rewatching the third episode of RWBY Volume 7 again. It's just so cool! _**

**_AN: The episode, the stuff that happened in it, or the weapons and weapon upgrades?_**

**_Ruby: Yes._**

**_AN: [playfully eye-rolls] And what's Sora's excuse?_**

**_Sora: [suddenly appears on lyoko's other side] Sorry! Sorry! I was...uh...Doing my job!_**

**_AN: Your job?_**

**_Sora: Yep! My job as a Keyblade master._**

**_AN: Uh-huh. And what does that mean? What exactly were you doing?_**

**_Sora: Well...I was...patrolling!_**

**_AN: Patrolling where?_**

**_Sora: Oh, you know. At that place...near the thing...where we all went that one time._**

**_AN: Riiight. And that would be...?_**

**_Sora: Uuuuummmm...Hey! Shouldn't we be getting a move on so we don't keep everyone waiting much longer?_**

**_AN: Oh, alright fine! But we're not done talking about this. Ruby, Sora, to the studio!_**

**_Ruby,Sora,&AN: [all rush into the study, where lyoko slides up a picture frame, and flips a switch to open the bookcase, revealing the fireman's poles behind it, and they all quickly hop on and slide down said poles until they are dropped into the studio]_**

**_AN: Hello one and all! And welcome to the newest chapter for Remnant of the Key! Yeah, sorry we're a little late, but apparently..._**

**_[audience laughing for some reason]_**

**_What? What's everybody laughing about?_**

**_Yang: Um, lyoko? [points at lyoko, Ruby, and Sora]_**

**_AN: [looks at himself, Ruby, and Sora to see that they're currently in Batman, Batgirl, and Nightwing outfits, respectively] DA-AH! What the heck?! Stupid thing slid us into the wrong outfits!_**

**_Ruby: [pausing to look herself over in a mirror] Hm? I don't know. I think I look pretty good._**

**_Sora: Yeah, me too. [grinning as he flexes his muscles as he does the same as Ruby]_**

**_AN: [muttering] Note to self, fix this later. [normal voice] MAKE-UP! WARDROBE!_**

**_[requested teams rush in and quickly work to fix up Ruby, Sora, and lyoko with their usual attire in a flurry of speed and clouds before disappearing again]_**

**_Ah, that's a bit more like it. Now, then, as I was saying, the reason for our tardiness is because the two who were supposed to let me know when you all were here had forgotten to do so. We know Ruby's reason, but Sora's yet to specify._**

**_Sora: I told you! I was patrolling!_**

**_AN: Patrolling what?_**

**_Sora: [glances side-to-side nervously] Um...[mutters his answer]_**

**_AN: What was that?_**

**_Sora: [coughing] Star-Wrs-rk!_**

**_AN: Excuse me?_**

**_Sora: ...I was checking out the Star Wars Park at Disney World! Okay?!_**

**_AN: YOU WERE CHECKING OUT THE STAR WARS PARK?!_**

**_Lea: And that's more important than your job?_**

**_Sora: What?! You guys all told me to meet you there! But then I couldn't find you. So I had to go by myself._**

**_AN: Whoa, whoa! Hold on! You guys _all_ went to the Star Wars Park at Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios without me?!_**

**_Literally Everyone other than Sora: [various responses that are variations of no]_**

**_Roxas: Come on, lyoko. We would _never_ do something like that to you. Well, most of us wouldn't. Unlike some _other_ people I could mention. [indicating Sora with that last bit]_**

**_Sora: Oh, thanks for throwing me under the Keyblade Glider, buddy!_**

**_AN: So? How was it?_**

**_Sora: It was great! There were all kinds of cool rides, characters to meet, and I felt like I was exploring entirely different worlds! I mean, I know I normally do, but this was like, I could do it just by walking around. And there was even this one ride, where you could test out these super fast vehicles! And a time machine inside of a giant ball!_**

**_Ventus: Whoa, wait a minute! What was that last one?_**

**_Sora: There was a ride like a time machine inside of a giant ball._**

**_Ventus: Yeah...Sora, that's not the Star Wars Park. That was EPCOT._**

**_Sora: What?_**

**_AN: Yeah, dude. That was EPCOT._**

**_Sora: Oh. Well, never mind then._**

**_AN: Okay, so...while we all help Sora get a little better oriented with the layout of the Walt Disney World theme park (and while I question how any of these guys managed to even go to Disney World without me), please enjoy today's chapter everyone!_**

**_Blake: By the way, who was that weird guy at the reception desk?_**

**_AN: Temporary assistant. Figured I'd do a test run to see how well that would work out for me in helping me to manage things around here. Anyways, time to start the story. Run the disclaimer! Go!_**

**_I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story._**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Dark Breach**

It looked like it was going to be another beautiful morning at Beacon Academy, even if it was still just the getting to be mid-dawn. Not that it brought down the spirits of Team JNPR as they prepared to leave for their mission. Sure, they were just shadowing the sheriff of a nearby village, but given that they were finally going on a mission as huntsmen, they had ample reason to be excited. The fact that it took them outside the kingdom only added a little extra boost to their eagerness, but out of all of them, it seemed that Ren and Nora were the most excited for this little adventure that they would be going on, even if the latter was the only one that was actually showing it as she skipped along to the waiting bullhead that would transport them to their destination.

The only break in this excitement was Jaune, as he had a perpetual look of concern on his face ever since he woke up that morning. Sometime in the middle of the night, he had gotten a call from Ruby, but when he answered, all he heard was static, and then the call disconnected. He probably could have just passed it off as Ruby attempting to call him from a point that was out of the CCT's range, which would make sense since the girls had told them yesterday that they would be going outside the kingdom for their mission too, but Jaune knew that Ruby would not have tried calling him while she was on a mission just to talk. Something just felt really wrong about the whole thing, and he said so to his teammates as well.

"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," Pyrrha had easily reassured him.

"Yeah, it was probably just a butt-dial," Nora added, not breaking her happy stride for a second.

"Are you sure," Jaune asked, still worried all the same.

"Jaune, Team RWBY has always done excellently whenever they were in the field, so I highly doubt that they're really in any kind of trouble. We should focus on our own mission for now," Ren reasoned out for him.

Jaune knew that his friend was probably right, but even with all of those reassurances, he did not feel much better. "I don't know guys. I've just got a really bad feeling in my gut that's telling me something happened," he informed them.

Pyrrha could understand what that was like. Her own gut-instincts had saved her in many of her previous matches over the years just as much as her talents and skills had, but it was not like they were able to really do all that much right now. They did not even know exactly where it was that Team RWBY had gone for their mission, and even if they did, they still had their own assignment to take care of. Unless something really huge came up, they could not just abandon their mission. She was about to tell Jaune all of this, when they all heard someone shouting out for them.

"Wait! Don't leave yet," the person called, making Team JNPR turn to see Xion rushing over to them as fast as she could. She must have been running for quite some time, because when she finally stopped, she was panting really hard while trying to form a complete sentence. "Call…Roxas…City…Grimm…Heartless…Teams RWBY….SLVR…"

"Whoa, whoa! Easy," Jaune tried to placate the girl, seeing the panic in her eyes that coupled with her exhaustion.

"Take a deep breath, Xion, then tell us what's wrong," Ren calmly instructed.

Xion did as asked, and after finally getting some air into her lungs again, she managed to relay the message she was trying to give them. "I just got a call from Roxas. The city's being attacked by the Grimm!"

As if to prove her point, a siren could be heard going off from Vale City, and barely even seconds later, the school's alarms began blaring as well. "That tears it. We're changing our mission," Jaune decided. "Everyone onboard!"

"Wait, you didn't let me finish! It's not just the Grimm," Xion rapidly called out, getting Team JNPR to pause once more so they could hear the rest of what she had to say. "There's Heartless and Nobodies in the city too, and the former have already claimed a good number of people, increasing their numbers. At the rate Roxas says they're going, it's only a matter of time before nearly every nearby Grimm has gotten into Vale, or worse, the entire city is overrun by Heartless, and maybe even a few new Nobodies too."

"All the more reason for us to get there as fast as we can," Jaune reasoned, before he had a moment of clarity to think of something else about all this stuff Xion just told him.

"How does Roxas know about all of that anyway," Pyrrha asked, having had the same thought as her boyfriend.

"Because Teams RWBY and SLVR are already there trying to stop all of those monsters right now," Xion revealed.

"WHAT?! They're fighting all of that without us?! Why is it always those guys who get the best action," Nora demanded out of both worry and annoyance.

"Figure it out later. We've got to hurry if we want to help them, and the bullhead isn't nearly fast enough," Xion told her.

"It's the only way we have of getting there that's readily available," Ren pointed out.

"Not necessarily," Xion stated, already starting to tap her Gummiwatch to cue up a certain set of commands. "Have you guys gotten over any sickness you might feel from using the gummi ship's teleporter?"

The members of Team JNPR all gained looks of understanding then and immediately nodded to say she should do it. Just when Xion was about to send the command to the stealth gummi ship, someone from behind her said, "The ship's teleporter won't be able to transport you into an area where a fight's already happening. At least not without the proper override commands."

Turning around to face the speaker, Xion gasped at the sight of Terra approaching them, all decked out in his regular battle attire. "Terra? I thought you had left after the dance was over," she remarked.

"I did, but then I got a distress call from Aqua, and since we happened to be close by, we came as quickly as we could to help out," Terra explained. He then continued on from what he was saying earlier, by adding, "You won't be able to use the stealth gummi ship's teleporter to get you all there since Xion isn't registered as one of its crew members, but I can get all of us out there using the teleporter on the ship that we flew in on."

Jaune and Xion were both about to thank him for that assistance when one particular part of what he said registered in their minds. "Did you say '_we_ came as quickly as we could'? And 'the ship that _we_ flew in on'," the former asked.

"Yes, he did, because he was referring to himself, and me," revealed Naminé as she stepped out from behind Terra with a smile on her face.

"And us, too. Plus, we ran into a few other friends that said that they wanted to help our pals stop this attack. If you fellas don't mind the extra company that is," a high-pitched voice added, prompting everyone to turn and see another seven people approaching.

Four of the people in this group were recognized by Team JNPR as their seniors in Team CFVY, but the other three were folks that they had only heard of from Sora, Ruby, and the rest of their friends. Seeing them here now put quite the astonished faces onto the team of first year Beacon students, while Xion could only grin excitedly for what this meant for the monsters they were about to face. "Oh, those monsters are in trouble now."

* * *

At that very moment, Teams RWBY and SLVR had managed to get clear of the crash site and make it into the middle of the square where they would have all of the various monsters' attention. In that time, the square had been mostly evacuated so that there were no civilians left to worry about. Sure, part of that was because a few had been taken by the Heartless, but none of them could think about that right now. They were a little more preoccupied with the numerous Beowolves, the many Deathstalkers, the big King Taijitu, the various different Nobodies, and all the Heartless that currently had them surrounded.

You would think that they could breathe a few sighs of relief from the fact that there were only Pureblood Heartless, but given that literally almost every type of Pureblood Heartless was in the area, the guys would have to disagree. For the most part, the Heartless consisted of the various different Element Cores, along with a few different Shadows and Neoshadows. Along with them though, were also several Invisibles and Darkballs, and when you added in the several Flutterings that acted as additional air support, you would be able to understand very easily why the guys were glad that they were not also having to deal with any Demon Towers, Darksides, or Shadow Stalkers at the very least. Never mind the Dark Hide that Aqua had once told them about, or that Lich that Sora had faced in order to save his friends during the final battles of the Second Keyblade War.

They wanted to question why there did not seem to be any Emblem Heartless among the dwellers of darkness's number, but there was no time to do that, as the giant snake-like Grimm let out a loud screech of a hiss that seemed to signal its side to attack. As the monsters charged, Team RWBY readied their weapons and battle stances, while Team SLVR did the same, and like that, the battle had begun. Ruby was the first to attack by leaping forward and slamming her scythe into the ground, wedging the blade there so that she could use it to spin around and kick several Grimm either down or back. Upon coming out of her final spin, Ruby removed her scythe from the ground, fired a blast from its sniper to get airborne, and then dove back in for a severe, spinning slash that slew several Grimm at once. Some of the Neoshadows made to pounce at Ruby after sinking into the ground, but thankfully, Sora saw them coming, and easily cut them all down before they could even touch a hair on her head. Using the momentum of his attack, Sora then spun around as he raised his Keyblade high into the air, and called down his most powerful lightning spell to destroy several more Shadows and Neoshadows that were in his and Ruby's vicinity.

As her sister and Sora continued their respective assaults, Yang went for a more upfront and direct approach by just blasting forward and then using a Creep as a springboard so she could get airborne and bombard several Grimm at once with Ember Celica. She even managed to score some hits on a few Berserkers and Assassins, but it was not until she had to pause and reload that she finally took notice of the giant Nevermores that were closing in from behind her. With little time to do anything else, Yang just crossed her arms in front of her to block the overgrown birds' attack as best she could, but thankfully, Lea managed to catch her before she hit the ground. The redhead then proceeded to retaliate against the Nevermores for their attack by throwing several fire spells at them with several vicious swings of his Keyblade, and after setting Yang down again, he transformed said blade into his chakrams, set them ablaze, and then tossed them at all the Flutterings that were trying to close in on the two of them. Several Water and Fire Cores then decided to come after Lea at that point, apparently having realized just how effective his preferred fighting style would be against them, and that was Yang's cue to return his earlier save by blasting them all away with her gauntlets, or just straight up bashing them with some hard kicks and punches, leaving them open for when Lea finished them off with some simple slash attacks after changing his chakrams back into his Keyblade again.

"Thanks for that, Hot-Stuff," Lea nodded to the blonde.

"Anytime, Handsome," Yang flirted back with a wink. She and Lea were both brought back to their current situation pretty quickly though, when a strong gust of wind suddenly blew an Earth Core away from her.

"Hey, do you guys mind lending the rest of us a hand, here," Roxas called out as he followed up his Aerora spell with a quick blast of water magic from Oathkeeper. "We're still in the middle of a fight, you know!"

Blake proceeded to prove his point a little more, by slashing a Beowolf down with some simple swings of Gambol Shroud, and then changing the sword into its gun mode as she crouched down and proceeded to fire on any Grimm, Heartless, or Nobodies that were still surrounding them. Most of the Grimm failed to get through Blake's barrage, and a few Nobodies fell as well, but there were still several Assassins that managed to get through with some Heartless. Roxas was able to help out with that problem, utilizing his usual show of skill with two blades, coupled with a few blasts of magic. For the most part, his magic attacks were several blasts of dark magic from Oblivion, while Oathkeeper fired off some light spells that he used to either attack, defend, or even both and that certainly helped in preventing their side from losing any ground.

Ventus and Weiss were showcasing a very impressive display of swordsmanship as well as they each cut down several different varieties of monsters. It did not matter if it was the Grimm, the Heartless, or the Nobodies. If they dared to approach these two, then they were swiftly dealt with by one or the other. In fact, with the way that these two were working together, it almost seemed like they were dancing. Even when Weiss used her glyphs to enhance her attacks, Ventus was able to capitalize on the chance it offered, by launching after the Reapers and Ninjas that had been scattered about in said attack. Sure, it left him a little open to the Snipers that had already started to take aim on him, but Weiss was able to deal with them thanks to a few Dust-enhanced attacks.

As Yang proceeded to start tag-teaming with Lea on several different Grimm, Invisibles, and Darkballs, even going so far as to punt a car into a large group of them, she started to take notice of something rather odd about their adversaries. "Hey, is it me, or are some of these guys fighting each other," she asked the others.

Lea had just cleared out some of the last Darkballs that had been hounding him, so he did not think it was too big of a problem if he paused to better analyze what was happening on the enemy's side to confirm what Yang had mentioned. "Huh, you're right," Lea confirmed as he cut down another Invisible that was coming from behind him without even looking. "It looks like the Grimm aren't really getting along with our old buddies from the dark realm and the realm of nothing."

Upon hearing his friend's confirmation, Ventus spared a quick glance around after sending his Keyblade flying in a Blizzard Raid, knowing that would freeze every target it hit in place for a brief time, and saw that it was a little more specific than that. "Looks to me that it's more the Heartless and the Grimm than it is the Nobodies," Ventus clarified. "And from the way they're going, it almost seems like the Heartless are attacking the Grimm as the Grimm are going after the Heartless."

None of the others could really believe what they had just heard, but when they got the chance to spare a look, they saw that Ventus seemed to be right. One minute the two dark creatures were working together, and then the next, it seemed like they were wrestling with one another in an attempt to prove their superiority over the other. It made sense that the Grimm would do so, given that they were drawn to negative emotions and that the Heartless were probably packed full of them, but it did nothing to explain why the Heartless were attacking the Grimm so viciously. Even Sora found this very confusing.

"What's going on? I've never seen the Heartless attack other monsters like this before," the wielder of Kingdom Key recalled aloud even as he kept attacking the enemies who came close to him. "Sure, they've fought against the Nobodies in the past, but that was only when Maleficent told them to back when the first Organization XIII was causing trouble. They've never attacked another monster of any kind without orders before."

"Maybe they just don't like the competition," Ruby offered after slicing up several more Grimm and Nobodies with her scythe.

"No…This doesn't look like that," Ventus disagreed, and he then squinted his eyes at the two battling monsters as if he could gain a better understanding by studying them a little more carefully. "It almost looks like…like a dispute between siblings or something."

Weiss was about to voice her own disputes against Ven's idea, but the more she saw of the Grimm and Heartless that were battling it out with each other, the more she had to start agreeing with him. Sure, she had never had fights like that with her own siblings, but she had heard of and seen a few other siblings having such disagreements. Even Yang and Ruby got into some arguments that escalated to that point every now and then, but then again, that was usually on a more joking level. Either way, seeing the Heartless fight the Grimm like this was certainly strange, and none of them could help but question it.

"Why would the Grimm and the Heartless be fighting each other like that," Blake asked her friends as she shot down a few more Nevermores.

"Don't ask us. The only times we've ever seen the two together was during the Initiation and that time in the Forever Fall forest," Lea reminded her as he set a few more Nobodies and Heartless ablaze with his magic.

"Maybe it's got something to do with how there are now so many Heartless in the same place this time around," Roxas suggested.

"We'll figure it out later! Right now, we need to focus on making sure none of these guys get outside the square," Sora told his friends.

"He's right! We can't let them get any further out into the city than they already have," Ruby agreed. "Keep fighting and give it everything you've got!"

"Easier said than done, Rubes! It's starting look like every time we destroy one of these things another five of the others take its place," Yang protested.

He did not want to agree with Yang on that, but Ventus could not see any way to argue her point. "She's right; there's way too many of them! We're not going to make it on our own at this rate!"

The loud roar of the King Taijitu only helped to drive the two blondes' point home for Ruby, never mind the fact that it had slithered around to glare down at her like in preparation to attack, but just when Ruby was about to use her Semblance to get away from the snake, a loud bang reached her ears. Shortly after that, a bright pink blur came sailing through the air, as a familiar voice shouted, "Nora, smash!"

The minute the blur met with the King Taijitu, the overgrown snake was slammed into the ground, and was dead within seconds of the boom. Said explosion served as the final confirmation of Nora's arrival, and it was only seconds later that the rest of Team JNPR appeared on the scene as well, armed and ready. Seeing their friends had finally arrived certainly helped to reassure Ruby and Sora that they were not going to be fighting this battle alone, and that further proven when Nora and Ren easily took down several different Grimm seconds later.

Jaune and Pyrrha did not let their teammates get all the action though, as they too were quickly rushing the various opponents. It was no surprise that Pyrrha was handling any monsters that came across her path with little effort as usual, but it did come off as impressive to some of them as to how well Jaune was handling himself in the fight. A few simple sword slashes was all he needed to bring down several Creeps and Beowolves, and not only that, but he even managed to destroy at least one of each just by stabbing them with the pointed end of his shield. At one point, Jaune spun around and tossed his shield like a Frisbee, allowing it to either cut through or just knock down several different Beowolves. Ren was able to easily deal with the ones that were sliced down, giving Jaune the perfect chance to retrieve his shield, even as he continued to cut through the Creeps that were between him and the item in question. Just seconds after Jaune had retrieved the shield, an Ursa appeared behind him, but Jaune barely even flinched from hearing it land, and instead, just spun around to cut at its lower legs, throwing it off balance enough for him to deal another pair of blows that brought it down within seconds.

Pyrrha had to smile at seeing how much her training with Jaune had helped him to improve, and she likely would have run over to give him a big hug for his efforts just now if they were not in the middle of a fight. Since they were, she opted instead for simply blasting some Beowolves that came up behind her partner while his guard was down using her weapon's rifle mode, after which she charged forward and cut down a few more that were attempting to hit him from the other side. Jaune must have been more aware than Pyrrha gave him credit for, as he was soon jumping back into action by covering her almost as easily as she had him by slicing apart some Creeps that had tried to charge her.

"We really do make a great team, huh Pyrrha," Jaune remarked to the redhead.

"Yes, we do," Pyrrha agreed with a smile that only grew when she took a quick second to kiss Jaune's cheek as thanks for his recent rescue and saw how he grinned to her in response.

Before they could get serious again, someone from close by suddenly shouted, "Nobody move! Junior Detectives!"

"We have badges, so you know its official," another person shouted, and everyone, even the monsters, all paused to turn and give disbelieving looks to Sun and Neptune as they flashed said badges out at everyone in the general area.

Much like the last time when someone said "Nobody move" while there were Nobodies in the area, the Nobodies all quickly converged on the two boys, eager to attack. The only reason why they were not instantly beaten down by the massive hammers of the Berserkers was because Xion took this time to jump in and blast them all with an ice spell before cutting them down seconds later. "Are you two here to play," Xion then angrily demanded of the two boys. "No? Then shut up and fight!"

"Y-yes ma'am!" Sun and Neptune both stuttered in reply as they quickly drew their weapons. They were both still having nightmares about what Xion had done to them after they decided to stop for noodles when Teams RWBY and SLVR were fighting that Paladin.

Seeing Xion join in on the fight definitely gave the Keyblade wielders some relief, since it meant that they were now going to have some much more effective backup in dealing with the Heartless and Nobodies, at least in the more permanent sense. That relief only grew more when Naminé suddenly appeared on the scene and made mincemeat out of several different Heartless and Nobodies in a matter of seconds. Upon turning to the nearest group of Nobodies, the blonde girl's attacks seemed to become a little more vicious, even when she was casting spells, but then again, that was probably because the Nobodies she was fighting at that moment were all Reapers and Ninjas. When he realized that, Lea quickly understood why Naminé was fighting that way, so he simply shrugged and told the others not to worry about before returning to action again.

After one final Ninja was cut down, Naminé paused to take a few breathes, at which point, Roxas and Blake both made their way over to check on her, having been the closest to her position at the time. "Feeling better, Sis," Roxas asked.

"Yeah. Much better," Naminé panted with a small smile. "That felt so good."

"Apparently," Blake commented. "Why'd you attack those Nobodies like that?"

"Let's just say that I still have a few issues that I never managed to deal with in regards to their former bosses," Naminé replied with a knowing tone.

Hearing that, Blake could not help but wonder, "Do all of you guys have issues with these Larxene and Marluxia people you keep telling us about?"

"Hey, it's justified in my case. Marluxia kept me locked up in a castle while using me as a tool and later a hostage to take control of Sora, and Larxene took every chance she could get to mock, belittle, and torture me in any way she could think of," Naminé revealed.

"…Yeah, okay. You're justified in that case," Blake agreed after a brief moment's consideration, now liking the two Nobodies in question even less than she did before.

The three then returned to the fight soon after, with Blake moving over to where Sun had commenced beating down any enemy he could with his staff, while Neptune provided him with covering fire. The blue haired boy had to roll aside so he could avoid getting cleaved in two by a Reaper from behind, and that same Nobody was swiftly dealt with when Terra swooped in with a powerful swing of his Keyblade. What really grabbed Neptune's attention though was how the man in question had a faint golden brown glow around him, and how each of his attacks were being unleashed at a very impressive speed while packing an impressive amount of power.

Leaping into the air after one last slash, Terra drew his Keyblade back to its zenith, and shouted, "Command Style: Critical Impact!"

Just as quickly as he had jumped into the air, Terra came back down, and struck the ground with his Keyblade, unleashing a powerful shockwave out from where he struck. Said shockwave dealt an impressive amount of damage, as it destroyed nearly every enemy in the surrounding area, be they Heartless, Grimm, or Nobodies. The survivors were quick to fall soon after, as Terra unleashed the power of his Windcutter ability, allowing him to perform a powerful spinning attack that created a whirlwind to send those enemies flying as they were reduced to dust and ashes.

"Whoa! Now that's cool," Neptune praised while changing his rifle into guandao mode so that he could easily land a sweeping attack of his own that cut down some enemies that had surrounded him.

Right when Terra was about to return the compliment with one of his own, someone had leapt over both him and Neptune and landed a powerful, slamming attack of their own using their massive sword, sending several enemies flying into the air if they were not already destroyed. The person behind said attack turned out to be Yatsuhashi, and he made quick work of any enemies that were still close to him, while Velvet and Fox easily dealt with the ones he had scattered. What was really impressive about the other two was that they were doing so using nothing but some simple kicks and punches, at least until Fox decided to use his weapons to land several slashes and punches on a particularly large Grimm that ultimately led to it exploding. The result of said explosion was that the spikes on its back were sent flying through several of the other Grimm, and a few Nobodies and Heartless even ended up injured as well.

When some of those same spikes came at her, Coco merely batted them aside with her shoulder bag, and proceeded to strut through the battlefield like there was not some kind of disaster around her at the moment. "Nice hustle, Fox. Good job," Coco praised her teammate with a quick slap to his butt, and she then stopped before one particularly large Beowolf. Lowering her shades, Coco decided to spare a few words for the Grimm in front of her before she took it down. "You just destroyed my favorite clothing store. Prepare to die."

The Beowolf must have felt a little insulted by how casually Coco was acting in its presence, because it let out an angry roar as it tried to swat her with its claws. In response, Coco just batted the offending claws away with her bag, and then, much to the surprise of everyone who was not on her team, kicked the Grimm in his groin. When the beast fell to the ground, Coco then slammed her bag down on its head, and just like that, the monster was dead.

"What the hell?! Just what does she have in that bag," Lea gasped.

"Just keep watching, and you'll see in a minute," Coco informed him after batting away a few more Grimm with said bag and a few quick kicks. She had to pause for a second when she saw Velvet rushing over to her and preparing to attack, and quickly said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa there, Vel. Don't waste that here after spending all of the past semester building it up."

Coco then clicked a control on her bag, and the others could only gape in surprise when it unfolded into a huge, minigun that she used to plow down every Grimm in front of her in a matter of seconds. No matter what size the monsters were, nor how tough their armor, Coco was able to destroy every single one like they were nothing. The only reason that the Heartless and Nobodies survived was because this was the first time that Team CFVY had fought against said creatures, so they were not used to dealing with said creatures or the amount of punishment necessary for fighting them. Luckily, they had plenty of people who were used to such thing to back them up, as Ruby proved when she used her scythe to cut down several different enemies at once. Too bad for her that there were a lot more than she was able to reach, but she soon discovered that they had not hit the limit on the reinforcements they were getting just yet.

"THUNDAZA," someone loudly warbled, and like that, an incredible rain of lightning bolts came down on the monsters that were still approaching Ruby and her seniors. What really stunned Ruby though, was that she had recognized that voice, even if she only met the speaker one time before now.

Turning around, Ruby grinned while throwing a thankful salute to none other than the court magician of Disney Castle himself, as Donald Duck proceeded to blast even more enemies into dust with his magic, or even just by simply bashing them over the head with his staff. It was not just Donald either, because Goofy came bashing through the bad guys with his shield almost immediately after, and while the two best friends were mainly focusing their attention on the Heartless and Nobodies, they did spare more than a few hits for the Grimm as well. Ruby was not the only one who noticed the two's arrival, and Sora showed it when he moved to stand alongside of them.

"Donald! Goofy! Let's hit 'em together," Sora called out.

"You've got it, Sora," Donald confirmed as he and his two friends leapt up, with Goofy front and center.

"Alright! My shield's ready when you are, fellers," Goofy confirmed, and with that, the three lined up behind Goofy as he expanded his shield to a larger size.

Shortly afterwards, the three all lit up with an aura of power while Goofy's shield began to glow as bright as the sun, and together, they all shouted, "Trinity Shield Attack!"

The three then blasted forwards like a rocket, destroying anything that was in their path, directly or otherwise, with a dazzling aura of energy and power surrounding them to make the attack hurt even if they were not directly targeting the bad guys. The results were several Grimm, Heartless, and Nobodies being destroyed, much to everyone's shock and disbelief. "Now that's what I call teamwork," Coco nodded in approval.

Everyone who had seen this display had to agree, but not all the combatants in this fight had the chance to do so, the most notable reason being because they had only just arrived on the scene. This was mainly applicable to Mercury and Emerald, who had only just appeared from a side street, but were already blasting and bashing away at any Grimm they could set their sights on. The only downside was that they seemed to be having a great deal more trouble with the Heartless and Nobodies than everyone else, and that was especially clear in Emerald's case when she ended up being bashed aside by a Berserker and then slashed several times over by some Neoshadows. As her latest attackers proceeded to surround and close in on her like predators preparing to pounce on their prey, Emerald began to get a little scared, right to the point where she actually closed her eyes when the monsters finally proceeded to attack, just waiting for the end to come. To her surprise, it never did. Instead, she felt something grab her arm and then pull her out of the way, while the sound of a sword swinging through the air followed by something big dropping to the ground filled her ears.

"Don't worry. You're safe now," a high-pitched voice said to her. As she started to open her eyes, she glimpsed a something blue, gold, and silver being swung up into the air, as her rescuer shouted, "HEAL!" Right after that, a green light washed over Emerald's body, and she felt her strength being returned to her along with all of her Aura. Slowly standing up, Emerald was just about to thank whoever this person who saved her was, only to not see them anywhere around her. At least, not until the person in question said, "Down here, Miss."

Looking down, Emerald was met with the sight of King Mickey Mouse himself, with the Star Cluster Keyblade gripped firmly in his hand. Naturally, she was a little stunned at the sight of the small king, and she could not help but voice the first thought she had after taking in his appearance. "Are you…some kind of Faunus?"

"Well, I guess in some way, I could be considered that," Mickey shrugged. "Are you okay, though?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm fine, Mister…"

"Oh, my name's Mickey. King Mickey Mouse, at your service."

As strange as the name sounded to Emerald, she was a little more caught up on the fact that this small guy was actually a king. "A pleasure to meet you, Sir…Uh, Your Majesty," Emerald stuttered, not sure how to address him.

"Gosh, there's no need to be so formal. Just call me Mickey," the king told her in an attempt to ease her nerves. "Now whaddya say we show these bunch of bullies what happens to folks that mess with our pals, Miss?"

Emerald smirked a little bit at that, and spun her pistols around while extending their blades as she said, "I think I can get on board with that, Mickey. Just don't call me 'Miss.' The name's Emerald."

"Nice to meet ya, Emerald," Mickey replied with a nod, and with that, the two entered the fight once again, though Mickey's part of the battle ended up being much more fantastic than Emerald's.

A loud crash soon pulled everyone's attention back to the big hole in the ground that so many of the different monsters were coming out of, and they all saw a Paladin climbing out of the ground. For a few seconds, most of them thought that they were going to have to fight it too, until Zwei suddenly leapt off from the top of it and head-butted the nearest Beowolf. For a few seconds, many of them could not help but think that Zwei had been piloting the mech, but then Oobleck stepped out from the cockpit, with Aqua leaping up from the hole soon after, and the two then commenced with blasting and slashing at any Grimm, Heartless, or Nobodies that dared to approach with their respective weapons.

"Damn. Doc's got game," Lea praised.

"Pretty sure he's not the only teacher you can say that about either," Roxas informed his friend as he saw Goodwitch stomping through the streets and blasting Grimm away from her with a few simple waves of her riding crop.

The deputy headmistress of Beacon Academy then waved her weapon of choice at the hole that the monsters were coming from, and before you could even think of saying anything, all the rubble and debris that had been thrown about by the crash was levitated back into its proper place, sealing up the hole to the point where it seemed like it had never even been there. Mickey and Aqua lent a few spells of their own to ensure that the monsters' entry point was completely sealed, but even with the Grimm now cut off from the battle, there were still quite a few Heartless and Nobodies left to deal with.

Seeing how many of the other-worldly enemies were left, Weiss spared a glance at Sora and asked, "Can't you summon Stitch back out again, or maybe one of your other summons now?"

"Are you crazy? That's something I've been trying to avoid doing while on Remnant. Most of my other powers can be shrugged off as part of either my Semblance or a unique manipulation of Dust, but my summons? Not a chance," Sora replied as softly as he could while still managing to deflect and destroy some Heartless and Nobodies that were coming after him.

"Well maybe we should try fighting Nobodies with Nobodies," Yang suggested with a look in Roxas's direction.

"Yeah, I don't think adding the Samurais into this fight would be a great idea right now, considering how all the other Nobodies that everyone has seen so far have been less than friendly," Roxas disputed.

"Well someone had better do something, because I don't think we can last much longer," Blake pointed out as she reloaded her pistol.

Sora glanced around the area for a brief second or two, and saw that Blake was right. With all the Heartless that were still around them, it was only a matter of time before everyone was too worn down to fight anymore, and that would give the Heartless and the Nobodies the perfect chance to finish them all off. So, Sora raised his Keyblade high into the air, while channeling a little light magic, and shouted, "In that case, everybody hop on!"

Ruby grinned excitedly knowing what was likely to come next, and she was not entirely wrong either. In a brilliant burst of colorful light, Sora, Ruby, Jaune, and Coco all found themselves seated in a large, spinning tea cup made out of lights, while three more appeared to house each of their other teammates. Lea, Yang, Nora, and Yatsuhashi could be seen riding in one cup, with Blake, Roxas, Ren, and Velvet in another, and finally, Weiss, Ventus, Pyrrha, and Fox occupied the last one, and from what everyone could tell, only the members of Team CFVY seemed to be surprised by the sudden theme park ride's appearance.

"What is going on," Yatsuhashi asked as his group's tea cup spun around, cutting through any enemies that they came across and bouncing off the walls they happened to hit.

"Ah yeah! Sora's busted out an Attraction Flow," Lea cheered happily as he took the wheel of their spinning vehicle.

"Attraction Flow," the big swordsman repeated in question.

"It's, uh…a special part of Sora's Semblance that he discovered a short while back," Ventus explained for Fox, who clearly had silently asked the same question as his teammate. "Basically, it allows him to use his powers to create various different theme-park-like rides that he can then use for various different attacks."

Roxas had just given that same explanation to Velvet, and in response, the bunny-eared girl had quickly scrambled to pull out her camera to take a few pictures of the whole thing as it happened. When she saw her riding mates looking at her in confusion, Velvet shrugged and said, "Sorry. I just wanted to get a few pictures of this, if for no other reason than to prove to myself later that this had happened."

Meanwhile, back in the teacup that Sora's group was riding in, the Keyblade wielder in question did not seem quite as happy as everyone else was with the ride that they had all boarded. "Mad Tea Cups? Seriously," Sora grumbled. "The one time I wanted Blaster Blaze."

"I'm guessing that you haven't quite mastered this particular ability yet, have you," Coco reasoned out, having just been given the same explanation on what was happening from Ruby.

"More or less. For the most part it tends to be completely random, but I thought I'd figured out how to get a specific ride by now," Sora explained. He shook his frustration off though, and said, "Well, doesn't matter. We can still work with this. You guys might want to hold onto your breakfast though."

"Oh, I don't have a good feeling about this," Jaune muttered to himself as Sora grabbed the wheel in the middle of their cup and gave it a hard spin. All at once, their cup was sent spinning around very rapidly, making the slices that they made through the remaining monsters even sharper than they already were, and that proved to be even more true when they kept spinning after rebounding off one of the walls. While Ruby and Coco both let out excited whoops from the ride, Jaune began to turn a little green, and muttered, "Yep. Definitely not having any good feelings about this now."

"Hey, hey! If you're gonna puke, do it over the side, Vomit-boy," Sora cautioned. "Last thing I need is to have to clean that off my shoes."

"Same goes for me, but with just any part of my outfit," Coco added.

Jaune was not the only one getting sick from all the spinning though, as Weiss and Velvet also seemed to be turning a little green as well, from what everyone could tell, but thankfully, all the crazy spinning that they were doing would eventually come to an end, right after Sora shouted, "Come on guys! Bring it in!"

The minute he gave that command, all four tea cups had fallen into formation with one another, and spun around in the circle they formed while still spinning in their respective positions, releasing a shower of sparks that did a massive amount of damage to both the surrounding enemies and the ones that were unfortunate enough to be caught in the middle of their formation. While the additional spinning did nothing to ease any of the queasy stomachs that were currently on the ride, it did end up destroying the last of the Heartless, and any Nobodies that were left were easily dealt with by Terra, Aqua, Xion, Naminé, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. By the time Sora's Attraction Flow had faded out, every last invading monster was destroyed, and the battle for Vale City had at last been won.

* * *

It was barely more than an hour later when the Atlesian military showed up to take Torchwick into custody, having received the right to detain him from Vale's authorities while in transit, and after a small party among all the friends who had helped them to save the city from the massive monster attack, and a quick debrief with Doctor Oobleck and Aqua to Ozpin and Ironwood on how the whole thing had happened in the first place, Teams RWBY and SLVR were finally able to get some time for themselves. Time that they decided to spend by watching the dawn skyline of Vale from Beacon's landing pads while reminiscing over all that had happened.

"Well, that certainly proved to be a lot more fruitful than I think any of us were expecting," Lea commented.

"Babe, just keep it simple and say we did it," Yang advised.

"Yeah. We really did do it," Blake remarked with a small smile of her own. A smile that she was sure she had not had on her face in a long time.

"We won," Roxas breathed out.

"If we don't extra credit for any of this though, I'm going to be seriously disappointed," Weiss informed them all.

"I wouldn't bet on that, Weiss. I mean, between the fact that this was all really just part of a normal assignment or two, and how a two-headed snake crushed a bakery, while some Berserkers collapsed an apartment complex, and some Neoshadows ripped up the streets, it seems pretty unlikely," Ventus reminded her.

"He's right. Plus, we didn't solve everything," Ruby reminded them. "A lot of people were hurt."

"If they were lucky, because the others were turned into Heartless," Sora added on. "Not to mention we don't even know why they did all of this, or who Torchwick's real boss was."

"Maybe it was that mystery girl and her friend in the Organization coat that we ran into at the tower," Ruby suggested. "Speaking of which, we still don't even know who they are."

"Well…not every story has a neat and tidy ending," Weiss told the two leaders before they could stress out over any other details like that.

"Unless, you know, it was actually given some good writing," Lea disputed.

"Hey, there will be another day to get all of the answers to whatever questions we still have, and even if we don't find those answers, someone else will, and we'll know the minute that they do," Ventus assured everyone.

"Besides, a lot of dangerous people are behind bars, and several people were saved because we were there to stop the Heartless, Grimm, and Nobodies," Blake reminded them all. "I think those are all things that we can be proud of."

"Yeah, you're right," Ruby agreed, now feeling a lot better. "And if anyone tries something like this again, we'll be there to stop them!"

"Doesn't matter if it's the Heartless, some random villains, or some other big threat. So long as we still hold onto the lights in our hearts that never goes out, and remember that our hearts are connected with one another's, no darkness will ever get the better of us," Sora proudly affirmed.

Hearing his friend say that, Roxas could not help but laugh out loud for a minute, earning him some questioning looks from the others. In response, he simply said, "Now that's _definitely_ the Sora I know."

"Hear, hear," Ventus cheered.

"Good to have you back, bud," Lea agreed with his pals while patting Sora on the shoulder.

"Well, what can I say? Someone gave me a really good reason to come back," Sora replied as he gave a tender look to Ruby.

Seeing that look made Ruby blush and play with her bangs a little, but she did not bother to hide the smile it also brought to her face as well. The moment ended soon enough when Yang flopped down onto her back, with Zwei mimicking her as best he could, and she tiredly cheered, "Yay! Teamwork, camaraderie, good guys, flirting, heroics, go team, alright, good job. So, what do we do now?"

"I'd suggest training for the tournament, but I think we have that covered at this point," Weiss admitted.

"So then…" Blake asked, waiting for a suggestion from anyone else.

"Uh…Time for bed," Ruby offered.

"Oh please, yes," Weiss agreed without question, no longer trying to keep from sounding as tired as she felt.

"Absolutely," Blake nodded along with a yawn.

"I'm going to sleep forever," Yang groaned, eager to reunite with her bed.

"Trust me, that's not as fun as you think," Ventus joked, even if it was with a weary tone of voice. "But yeah, I could go for a nap at the very least."

"Nap? I feel like I'm going to fall into a coma the minute I lay down on anything that could be considered a bed after all of this," Lea confessed.

"For once, I agree with you," Roxas told his friend.

With that, the eight all stood up and departed for their dorms, ready to sleep away the rest of the day, and more than likely well into the next day. Halfway there though, Sora stopped in his tracks as a new idea entered his mind. Sure, it may have been a little crazy, and there was a chance that it could land him and the rest of his friends into some range of trouble, at the very least with a certain magician or even Yen Sid, but to Sora, it seemed like the perfect solution for what they should do going forward from here. Since he had stopped to think about this in the middle of the hallway, the rest of his team had quickly taken notice, and became curious about whatever was on his mind.

"What's the matter, Sora," Roxas asked.

"Well…you guys remember what Aqua said to us after that report we gave to Ozpin and Ironwood," Sora asked the guys.

"Kinda hard to forget since it means we won't be able to rest up as much as we'd like because of it," Lea informed him. "Why?"

"Well, I think I've got an idea on how to make it a little more fun," Sora told his friends with a smile that showed his excitement with a hint of mischief.

Seeing that look on Sora's face, the other three were now even more interested than ever, and Ventus made that clear for all of them when he said, "We're listening."

* * *

While heroes were celebrating their victories and, recovery and reconstruction efforts were being carried out, Cinder and her crew were standing off to the sides, watching it all happen from the shadows as they took in everything that had happened today. "Drawbacks aside, I'd call today a success," the ashen-haired woman declared.

"You're kidding right? Torchwick launched his part of the plan days early, and those stupid kids made a huge mess of things," Emerald reminded her.

"Yeah, and that's ignoring all the stuff we saw those Keyblade guys do here," Mercury pointed out. "They don't exactly seem like the pushovers that Luxu has implied they were."

"Funny. I don't remember ever saying that they were pushovers. But I do remember saying to be careful of them," Luxu's voice echoed around them, just seconds before the man in question appeared from his usual portal. "Geez, I go away to check out whether or not my old Keyblade's made its grand return yet, and everything goes to hell? Guess Roman wasn't quite all that he believed himself to be."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that just yet," Cinder waved off. "After all, sometimes, it pays lose a pawn to the enemy."

"Well what about the White Fang? A lot of their guys didn't make it out of those tunnels, so I doubt that they'll still be willing to listen to us," Mercury pointed out.

"Of course they won't. But they'll listen to me," a new individual said as he stepped up to the group.

The person in question was a young man with auburn hair that almost seemed to be a blood red color in the current light, and a pair of bull horns on his head, with the signature Grimm mask of the White Fang hiding half of his face from view. The rest of his attire was nearly all black, save for the red shirt he wore underneath his blazer, and the red thorn sigils on the bottom left hem of said coat. The only other deviations from his all-black attire were the blood red omega symbols on his gloves, and the white and red, wilting rose emblem on the back of his blazer. Rounding out his dangerous look, was the sword in a black sheath that he currently held in his left hand. In short, the man spelled danger to anyone who saw him.

"Adam Taurus. We meet at last," Luxu greeted with what sounded like a false cheer. He did not bother holding a hand out to the leader of the White Fang's Vale Faction, since he was sure that the bull Faunus would refuse on principle. "Gotta say, I've heard a lot of stories about you and your capabilities, and if anything I've heard is true, then you do some pretty great work."

"Spare me the empty compliments. All I care about is whether or not you intend to aid my people with something other than those silver creatures. From what I've heard, the Keyblade wielders were able to deal with them rather handily," Adam brushed off.

"I must admit, I'm a little concerned about that now, myself, given what we just saw earlier today, and that's without accounting for just how many Keyblade wielders appeared," Cinder said, leveling a questioning gaze at Luxu.

"Yeah, that was pretty impressive. Almost every Keyblade wielder right here on one world, right down to the little mouse king and his lackeys," Luxu recalled. "All we were missing was big, bad Riku and the little princess that couldn't, but then again, it's not like we should have been expecting the latter to show up at all."

"Hey, don't ignore the main problem. Some of your little Nobodies have even gone and joined the enemy's side, or did it escape your notice how all of the Samurai vanished from our ranks," Adam snarled.

"Oh, I noticed, and I'm telling you not to worry. It's just one group of Nobodies out several others, all of which are still plenty strong and outnumber Kiddo's old crew by quite a bit," Luxu assured. He then held his hand out to the four as an image of a completely different creature flickered to life in his palm and added, "Besides, even if we do lose anymore of those empty husks, I've still got a whole other slew of creatures left up my sleeve to help us out. And these guys…Well, they're all a real nightmare."

Seeing the image of this one creature alone would have left the others a little dubious, but when Luxu went on to expand it so that it could include several others like that one, they started to feel a little more confident about their chances. In fact, if anyone saw Cinder's smirk at that moment, or the one that had formed on Luxu's face when he saw the satisfaction in his associates' eyes, they would have found more than a few chills running up their spines.

* * *

Despite what the eight friends had said earlier, Teams RWBY and SLVR ended up only sleeping until noon, but only because they did not want to be unable to fall asleep again when nighttime rolled around again. Thankfully, they did not need to worry about missing any classes, because the last ones of the semester had now come and gone, so they had not missed too much, and not only that, but they were also able to spend the rest of their day however they wanted. For the guys, that meant getting a few things cleared up with Ozpin and their fellow Keyblade wielders, but no matter how many times they asked, the girls could not get them to say what it was all for. The most they really got was having Sora promise that they would find out first thing tomorrow morning, and afterwards, they never got the chance to try and pry a hint out of them. Although, in Ruby's case, it was because she ended up spending the rest of the day just hanging out with Sora, while Ventus and Weiss did the same at the café he had mentioned to her during their investigation. Everyone insisted that the latter pair had been on a date, but Ven and Weiss both just brushed those accusations off. Not that they actually denied it, mind you.

In all honesty, Lea was the only one who spent the rest of his day alone, having not really felt up for doing too much of anything and claiming that he was still really worn out despite all the rest he had gotten. Normally Roxas would have called him lazy or out of shape at the very least, with Xion being the second one to do so, but this time, everyone figured that the redhead had more than earned a brief moment of laziness after all that they had gone through that morning. It was a refreshing change of pace in Lea's opinion, even if a part of him did miss the teasing remarks just a little bit.

By the time sunset had rolled around, Lea had really just done nothing but wander aimlessly around the school for the most part, if for no other reason than to make absolutely sure that he would be able to get some decent sleep that night. It certainly seemed to have worked, given how sluggish he felt as he started making his way back to the dorms, but just when he was passing through the main courtyard, Lea started to feel a little more alert when he saw that he was not as alone as he thought.

There, standing before him, was the woman that Roxas had told him about from the train; the one who had saved him and Yang from Neo. At least, Lea figured this was her, given that she matched the description Roxas had given him when the blonde gave him that message. Thinking of that sent a new wave of chills through his body, but he kept his cool and just stared at her for a few minutes, not wanting give her any openings in case she was hostile. For a time, the two just stood there, staring one another down, until eventually, Lea was starting to wonder if this lady had somehow found a way to sleep standing up or something. Given all the other crazy things he had seen in Remnant, including but not limited to how Zwei had first arrived at Beacon, Lea would not have been surprised if that was the case, but he figured that it was more reasonable to say she was waiting for him to say something first.

After waiting a few more minutes in silence, Lea finally called out to her, asking, "Excuse me, Miss, but is there something I can help you with?"

"That depends," the woman replied as she slowly reached up and removed her mask, letting Lea see her face in all of its glory. "On whether or not you can give me some answers that I like."

Roxas and Yang had both expressed their suspicions to him on this woman's identity, and now, Lea could definitely say without a doubt that they were right, because aside from her hair and eye color, the woman's face looked far too much like Yang's to be anyone else. "So, you're dear old, Mama Raven," Lea announced for her, even if he was leveling a glare at the woman the whole time. "Can't say that I'm so much as pleased, let alone flattered to meet you. Even I've never been that good of a liar."

Instead of seeming offended or upset, Raven merely scoffed with a dry smirk at the remark, and said, "Well, I wasn't really aiming to please you when I came here, and even if I was, I wouldn't have bothered since I know Yang's told you about me."

"You mean like how you basically abandoned her and your husband, and then didn't bother to show your face again even once as she was growing up," Lea accused.

"Maybe you didn't hear your friend when he told you that I saved her and him," Raven pointed out, sounding close to a snarl now.

"Right, because one good deed makes you Mom-of-the-Year," Lea brushed off with every ounce of sarcasm he could manage.

He seemed to have gotten under Raven's skin with that one, because she visibly took a deep breath to calm down again before she returned his gaze with a much more neutral one of her own. "Like I said, I'm not here to please you. I'm here for a different purpose."

"Yeah? Well let me tell you right now that you need to think very carefully about your next choice of words, because you won't like what happens if I don't like what I hear," Lea warned, his voice gaining a threatening edge to it that he had not used since his time as Axel.

Apparently his threat did not come as serious as he was hoping, because Raven just laughed for a little bit after hearing it. "And just what do you think that _you_ will be able to do to me if that is the case," she asked in amusement.

This was the part that made Lea smirk a little as he said, "Well for starters, assuming you're as crazy about your hair as your daughter is hers, I think I might burn those long, black locks right off your head. And then…well, I'm sure that I could give someone around here quite the nice view once I've spread that fire a little further down. Say, onto your clothes?"

Now Raven was scowling at him. "You're lucky that my daughter seems to care for you so much. I've killed men for lesser things than that," she growled. "Now if you're done trying to dig your own grave, I suggest you hear what I have to say."

"And like I said, it better sound something like 'take me to my daughter', or else you won't like what happens," Lea cautioned.

Once again, Raven only smirked, and said, "Then I guess you'd better take your best shot, because I'm more interested in you. Well, you and your little friends from other worlds."

Normally, Lea would be demanding how she knew about that type of thing, but considering that she seemed pretty well-informed, he did not think he should really bother. After all, she had already proven that when she mentioned knowing that Yang had told him about her, even without him specifically saying the words, so it would not be too much of a stretch to assume that she knew about him and his friends too. Of course, the fact that she was curious about them was the only thing that was preventing him from doing everything he could to turn her into ashes right now. Keeping her alive would help him get some answers on why she was interested in them, and if there was anyone else that shared her interests for any of the same or similar reasons.

"And just what about us has you so curious? Is it because we're Yang's friends," Lea questioned, still trying to push her into doing something that would indicate she had some desire to be a good mother.

"I'm pretty sure your interests in her goes a little further than just friendship," Raven disputed with a dry chuckle. "But that's another matter for a different time. I'm only interested in this: how invested are you and your friends with Ozpin's little war?"

Now Lea was confused. "What're you talking about?"

"You don't have to pretend you don't know. I'm well aware of the whole story, just like I know your taskmaster Yen Sid is aware of it. More so than anyone else in Ozpin's circle of blind followers, so I'll ask again: how deep into Ozpin's war are you and your friends?"

"And I'll ask my question again: what are you talking about," Lea repeated.

Raven quietly stared at him for a brief spell this time, gauging the truth of his words, before she finally smirked and started to laugh a bit. "Oh my Oum. You really don't know, do you," she asked. "Amazing how Yen Sid would send his devoted little errand boys here and not tell them anything about why Ozpin would really want Keyblade wielders on Remnant, especially now of all times."

"Lady, we're not here for Ozpin or some 'secret war' that you think he and Yen Sid are apparently fighting. We're only here for two reasons: to learn how to become better Keyblade wielders, and find our missing friend," Lea finally laid out for her.

"You mean, the lost Princess of Heart," Raven inquired, knowingly. That one caught Lea off-guard, right to the point where he finally dropped any stoic and angry exterior just enough for his surprise to be visible to Raven. "Yes, I'm well aware of her, and of just how precious she is to your leader, so let me spare you any further trouble: she's not here. I'm able to see and hear more things on this world than even the best spies could ever hope or dream of hearing, and I've not once come across even a single glimpse of your missing princess. Guess your friend's just going to have to settle for Summer's kid, now won't he?"

Hearing Raven's last remark pulled Lea back into focus, and he was soon glaring at her again as he made his next remark. "And I'm supposed to believe you, of all people? Someone who ran away and abandoned their kid instead of sticking around like a real parent would have?"

"You can believe whatever you want; it doesn't matter to me," Raven waved off. If she was offended by his words, she was doing a damn good job of hiding it. "What does matter is what you all will do once you find out what Ozpin and Yen Sid are both hiding from you."

"Meaning," Lea prompted.

"That boy who's now in a relationship with Summer's daughter is just like said girl and her mother: pure, honest, and naïve, and his blonde partner isn't really much better," Raven explained, indirectly insulting Sora and Ventus as she did. "But you and your other friend…you two have a look about you both that says you've seen and dealt with the realities of life, and know how to make decisions based on more than just simple feelings. Not to mention this whole conversation has made it clear that you know how to ask questions instead of just accepting things at face-value. When you learn the truth, and I guarantee that there will come a day that you do, I'm sure that you'll see what I did and want out. You'll understand just how pointless Ozpin's war is, and when that day comes, I'd be more than happy to welcome you and anyone else that comes with you into…"

"Okay, I'm gonna stop you right there and right now," Lea interrupted, now feeling more than a little angry. "I don't care about whatever beef you have with Ozpin or the old man, or even if there is some secret war going on behind the scenes that neither of them have told us about. If I do find out that it's true and it looks to be as bad as you claim, then I won't care about it, because I know that my friends will want to keep on fighting regardless. They'll find a way to pull out a win. They've all done it before and they will do it again, so I'm gonna stand with them no matter what. I already turned my back on my friends once before, and I'm not going to make that mistake again, no matter what happens. Unlike you, I'm not going to up and abandon everyone I care about just because I'm scared of how hard it might be."

Raven was definitely scowling now, but this time, it was with a mixture of anger and disappointment. Underneath that though, Lea could swear that he also saw a little bit of approval as well, but he scratched that off as nothing more than his own imagination. It was a little easier to do since Raven had spoken up again to voice her opinion on the matter. "You know, you sound just like my little brother," she sneered, clearly intending it as an insult.

"Considering that he's the one between the two of you who actually stuck around for his family, I think even you can understand why I'll be taking that as a compliment," Lea smirked in return.

Raven just huffed in retort and slid her mask back on as she turned to leave, but not without one last word of warning for him. "My offer will still be open if you change your mind, but if you don't, I wouldn't expect me to be so nice the next time we meet."

"Funny; I'm pretty sure you don't really know what that word means. If you did, maybe you wouldn't have walked out on your daughter," Lea shot back.

"I did what I had to do, and I don't need to explain my reasons to you. I doubt you could really understand why I had to leave for her sake," Raven told him.

"I think you mean that I don't believe you when you say that," Lea corrected.

Raven merely drew her sword, making Lea tense a little as if anticipating an attack. He would never admit that he let out a quiet sigh of relief when she merely swung the blade to open another one of her strange portals and then sheathed it again as she stepped through the vortex. "Remember my warning, Lea," Raven told him. "Oh, and we'll meet again."

When the wayward mother of Yang Xiao Long finally vanished from the courtyard, Lea could not help but hold his breath for a few more minutes as if anticipating any kind of surprise attack from her. Only after that time had passed did he finally let it out and mutter, "Well, that's probably the first thing she's said that I can both believe and agree with. And next time we meet, it better be for Yang's sake and not just some business thing on her part, because my little burning threat will definitely become a promise."

* * *

The next morning, Team RWBY was just about to head over to their Keyblade wielding friends' dorm to ask if they wanted to hang out, when they received a message on their Scrolls from Sora, asking for them to meet them out in the Emerald Forest after breakfast. The girls would have asked a few more questions about it, but he seemed insistent on getting nothing other than a yes or no in response to his message, so they ended up just sending a positive reply. Even when they saw the rest of Team SLVR at breakfast, they did not say anything. Just grinned and said that it was a surprise before inhaling their meals and heading out. Of course, they did mention that they should show up with their regular combat gear and packed for a long trip, but that was the most the girls got out of them. In the end, Ruby finally told her teammates that they should let the guys have their fun for now, and if this turned out to be a stupid prank, they would get the boys back later.

So, a few hours later, Team RWBY was trekking through the Emerald Forests with their weapons and packed bags, while Zwei followed dutifully after his owners and their teammates, much to Blake's disappointment. The cat Faunus had tried to convince Ruby to leave her dog behind, but her team leader just would not hear of it. In fact, Ruby ended up just giving Blake a sad puppy face as she pleaded for Blake to not ask her to leave Zwei behind, and the ex-White Fang member could not help but cave to her desire. She was still going to make sure that she did everything possible to avoid Zwei and keep him away from her belongings though.

Right as they were halfway to the meeting spot that Sora had pointed out for them after they agreed to meet him and his team there, they were surprised to find Team JNPR trudging along the same path as well, also armed and packed for a long trip like them. "Hey Jaune," Ruby called out. "Did Sora ask you guys to meet him out here too?"

"Yeah, but he wouldn't say why," Jaune confirmed. "Don't suppose you know anything about this, do you?"

"Nope; afraid not, Vomit-boy," Yang shrugged.

Jaune sighed both from disappointment and from hearing that nickname again. "Can we please let that die?"

"Sure, as soon as we all stop calling Weiss either Ice Queen or Ice Princess," Nora teased.

"Hey," the heiress in question snapped, much to everyone's laughing pleasure.

Pyrrha was the only one to take pity on Jaune, and instead of laughing, she patted his shoulder as she said, "Don't worry, Jaune. I'll always think of you as a Noble Knight."

"Aw, thanks, Pyrrha," Jaune smiled in return, bringing a smile to his girlfriend's face at seeing she had cheered him up.

"More like _her_ Noble Knight," Yang whispered to Blake with a knowing wink.

Blake did not hesitate to giggle in agreement with her partner's suggestive words, and would have offered some additional comment on the matter had they not spotted Sora waiting for them all just up ahead. It was not much longer after they saw him that Sora noticed their approach, and he happily waved them all over with his usual smile. Of course, it seemed especially bright when he turned to Ruby, and if anyone else noticed besides her, Ruby did not care. It just made her so happy to see that she could make him brighten up like that.

"Hey guys! Glad you could all make it," Sora greeted once the group of eight had stopped before him.

"Did you honestly think we weren't going to come after all the suspense you've built up when you asked us to rendezvous here," Weiss questioned.

"Well, you never know," Sora shrugged, indicating that he did have some doubts about one or two of them. "But, now that you're all here, you won't have to wait any longer to find out what I've got planned for us."

"And…what _do_ you have planned," Yang asked.

"And what would it be for," Blake added.

"And is it going to be a lot of fun," Nora finished in her usual burst of energy.

"Well, I certainly think so," Sora replied to Nora's question. He then cleared his throat like he was about to make a big announcement, and said, "After we stopped the Breach, Aqua and the others learned that we all have some time off from classes until the start of the Vytal Festival, and its tournament. So, my team and I have been asked to start, as some of my friends put it, 'pulling our weight as Keyblade wielders' and begin patrolling other worlds again until the start of the festival."

"So does that mean…you're all leaving Remnant for a while," Ruby asked, worried that was the case.

"Not exactly. _We_ are leaving Remnant for a while, as in all twelve of us," Sora happily corrected, and just like that, the others were starting to get a sneaking suspicion of what he was implying. A suspicion that Sora confirmed for them all when he continued on with his speech. "I talked it over with Aqua, Ozpin, and even Mickey just to be sure it would be okay, and since they've all given their approval, the only ones I need to ask now are you guys. Teams RWBY and JNPR, how would you guys like to join Team SLVR in a patrol of other worlds that will double as a special training trip to prepare for the Vytal Festival Tournament?"

Even after hearing him say it out loud, the two first year teams were still pretty surprised by the question. Sure, they had gone to other worlds with Sora and his friends before, but what he was suggesting was an entire journey to several worlds, similar to what Sora had been through on his past adventures! This was completely different from going to just one world for a simple job and then coming straight back to Remnant, and Sora certainly knew that given he had gone to all the trouble of talking to everyone he did to make sure it would be alright. Still, they all felt like they had to be sure that this was for real.

"Seriously?! You really want us…_all_ of us…to go with you guys to a bunch of other worlds," Jaune asked for the collective group.

"Yep," Sora confirmed without a second thought. "I actually got the idea yesterday morning from Weiss."

"From me," Weiss repeated in question. "How did I give you this crazy idea?"

"You said it yourself, Weiss: there's not much we can do to prepare for the tournament on this world, but there's plenty of stuff on other worlds that _can_ help with that," Sora elaborated. "Trust me; I know what I'm talking about. Which is why one of our stops on this tour will definitely be the world of Olympus; a world where heroes from all over gather at its famous coliseum to compete in amazing tournaments to show their mettle and that they have what it takes to be called true heroes."

"Awesome! Can we go there first? Can we go there first," Nora excitedly cheered.

"Easy Nora. It's only one of the places we're going to go, and there's a lot of other worlds that we can and need to go to as well," Sora gently reminded her, earning him a small stink eye from said hammer girl. "I can guarantee that we will be stopping on each of the home worlds of the Princesses of Heart, both previous and current, and a few others as well, besides Olympus. So, not only is there little chance of anyone being bored, but we'll also be getting in a lot of practice for the tournament and future battles as well."

"What other kinds of worlds should we expect to stop at," Ren inquired as calmly as he could. Even he was finding it a challenge to contain his excitement over the incredible opportunity that they were being presented with.

"A lot of places that I've told you guys about, for one, and I can definitely confirm that we'll be stopping at places like the Caribbean."

"That's the place full of pirates, right," Weiss recalled, a hint of disgust in her voice.

"Yep! Along with tons of great adventures at sea, and treasure that's just waiting to be discovered," Sora excitedly cheered, apparently not noticing how little fondness Weiss had for the mere idea of that stop.

"Awesome! We're in," Ruby decided for everyone.

"Whoa there, Ruby. I'm glad that you're eager to join, but this is optional for everyone. You don't have to come just because so much as just one of your teammates wants to go, but it would be a lot of fun if you guys did join in," Sora assured everyone.

"Hey, you don't even need to ask if I want in," Yang eagerly declared with a fist-pump.

"Well, I suppose it could be a fun experience, and being able to fight various kinds of enemies in locations that we're not accustomed to would go a long way in ensuring we'll be better prepared for the tournament," Weiss shrugged, albeit with a playful nature that said she was definitely going.

"I'm in," Blake confirmed, sealing the deal for the entirety of Team RWBY.

That just left Team JNPR, but their responses were not much different from their classmates'. "Of course we're going! Right Ren," Nora cheered.

Ren just smiled in answer to Nora, and bowed his head to Sora as he said, "I'm honored to accept this opportunity, Sora."

"That sounds grand," Pyrrha smiled happily. "We're all happy to join you and your team, Sora. Aren't we, Jaune?"

"Like any of us are gonna say no," Jaune confirmed to his partner with a grin of his own.

"Alright then," Sora cheered. He then tapped his Gummiwatch and allowed the stealth gummi ship to become visible to all as its main hatch opened up to allow them entry. "Teams SLVR, RWBY, and JNPR are now ready to set out on their first ever, shared adventure through the worlds!"

"Let's do this," Ruby cheered just as happily. "Banzai!"

"Banzai!" Jaune and Sora both echoed immediately after, and they all quickly rushed aboard the ship.

As they were heading up to the cockpit, Weiss had to ask once again just as final confirmation, "Are you sure that it's okay for you to bring all of us along with you on this?"

"Uh-huh. Like I said, I talked it over with Ozpin and Aqua, and since none of us have any classes between now and when the tournament starts, they saw no reason to argue with it," Sora assured her right when they arrived in the cockpit.

"It definitely helped when he mentioned that this would double as special training for everyone, too, and that we would all come back to Remnant at any moment if any of them should call us," Ventus added on from where he was sitting at the controls.

"Plus, getting a final okay from King Mickey definitely helped seal the deal, which is why we made sure that Sora asked him last," Roxas revealed. "If Sora went to him first, there's no way he would have cleared it with Aqua or Ozpin, and we definitely needed to get an okay from the latter to do any of this."

The rest of the conversation was spent with Sora telling the Remnant locals where they could store their bags and where their rooms on the ship would be, along with some additional highlight information on the places that they would be visiting. He wanted to keep as many details as possible a secret until they arrived at the worlds he planned for them to visit. The whole time that they were talking, only Yang noticed how quiet Lea was being right now.

Lea was not keeping to himself because he did not have anything to contribute; there were plenty of things he could have said about this whole trip. In point of fact, he had actually been thinking a few things over ever since his late, secret meeting with Raven. It had very little to do with the things she said though. Sure, there were a few things that made him wonder about the stuff that Yen Sid and Ozpin had kept from them, but that was not what really bothered him right now. What was really bothering him was the question of whether or not he should tell Yang that he had met with her mother.

Ever since Yang first told him about her quest to find her mom, Lea knew just how badly she wanted to track down Raven, so if she found out that the woman had actually been here at Beacon and did not give any indication that she wanted to see her, how would Yang react? Lea was very sure that she would be upset by the information, but would she be more upset with her mother or with him, the person she did actually want to see when she came here? He just did not know, and he was a little hesitant to approach the topic with anyone. The only thing that made this worse was how similar this felt to when he found out the truth about Xion and ended up keeping it from both her and Roxas. He did not want to repeat his past mistakes, but this felt wildly different from that at the same time, so he was left with little to no clue on what he should do. The only thing he was sure of was that he could curse Raven over a few thousand times for putting him in such a mess to begin with, but clearly his brooding had gone on a little longer than he thought, as Yang eventually came over to him with a worried look on her face.

"Hey, you okay," she asked.

"Uh…Yeah. Just…just had a rough time getting to sleep last night," Lea attempted to lie.

Yang seemed to buy it, but even if she had not, Sora did not give her a chance to question the redhead on his fib, as he had already taken his usual seat at the main controls, indicating that just about everyone was ready for takeoff. "Okay guys! Time to get this show on the road," Sora announced to everyone. "Grab a seat and buckle up!"

All at once, everyone was grabbing the nearest seat that they could find, with Team SLVR making sure that no one was sitting near any vital or important controls, especially in the case of Nora and Ruby. The last thing they needed was for anyone to touch something that they should not, especially while they were in midflight. "Team RWBY's all ready, Captain," Ruby announced for her team once the last of them had clicked their seatbelts into place.

"Team JNPR, ready to fly," Jaune called out seconds later.

"Alright! Team SLVR, sound off ship readiness," Sora called out to his boys. "Main power, fully online!"

"All engines and thrusters operational," Ventus reported from his station with a bit more excitement in his voice than usual. "Environmental control systems activated."

"Shields and armor systems fully charged and engaged," Roxas carried on afterwards. "Navigational systems activated. Cloaking system is now back online, and standing by to deactivate once we've cleared Remnant's world barrier."

"Weapons powered up and on standby. Teeny Ships standing by for deployment," Lea informed the team, sounding a little more serious than he normally did. His humorous side came out again when he hit a few more buttons that allowed a small rack to appear alongside Jaune's seat, and smirked as he added, "And barf bags are ready for those of us with weak stomachs."

"Motion sickness is a very common problem! How many times do I have to say it," Jaune huffed to show how little he appreciated the jab at him. "Besides, I made it through the last trip on this thing without getting sick."

"Well to be fair, this is going to be a lot longer than that one," Nora happily pointed out.

"I don't think that's helping, Nora," Ren told her when Jaune suddenly started to look a little pale after that reminder. Luckily Pyrrha was able to calm him down quickly enough.

"Either way, we are go for launch," Sora declared at last. "Let's go, stealth gummi! Next stop: adventures on other worlds!"

The excited cheers that followed Sora's declaration were likely loud enough to echo throughout the entire forest, if the Keybearers had to guess, and shortly after, the ship had lifted up off the ground, and blasted off into the skies, breaking through the world barrier of Remnant, and flying out into interspace with a promise of excitement for the heroes aboard the vessel.

* * *

**_AN: So yeah, I know. It's a lot shorter than the last few chapters, but really, this was all that was going to happen anyways in this chapter. I mean, come on! Did you really think I was going to have them all land on the first world of this world-travels-arc in this chapter? Come on! Get real. But anyways, let's run the list of what went down today, shall we?_**

**_Ironwood: Excuse me, but where were my forces in the battle?_**

**_AN: What, those tin-toys that seem like wannabe a Iron Legion? Yeah, they never showed up._**

**_Ironwood: Yes, I saw that much. I'm asking why that was._**

**_AN: Dude, look at what was in the battle, now back to me. Now look at your forces, back to me. I'm not your men, nor am I one of your robots. Now look over what happened, back to me. Ask yourself, and think carefully when you answer...Do you _really_ think the Atlesian military needed to get involved, when there was already so much badass and awesomeness handling things? We had literally every Keyblade wielder other than Riku fighting it out, plus Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CFVY, and...ugh, Mercury and Emerald, for what little they actually did. Oh, and Sun and Neptune actually helped too. Plus, when you finish things off with an Attraction Flow ability, how much of a contribution do you think Ironwood's wind-up toys are going to bring? Nothing but a clean-up crew that helps with taking Torchwick into custody._**

**_Yang: Speaking of which, glad to see you actually got the dorks to help out a bit._**

**_AN: Hey, I did mention that Xion's scolding of the two after the way they ditched you in the fight against Torchwick's mech a few chapters ago was going to come back to haunt them for a while. In an instance like this, it definitely shows a bit more._**

**_Lea: Question! Over here! Why have Sora, Donald, and Goofy use that Trinity Shield ability as opposed to Trinity?_**

**_AN: Well, Trinity was a power that you could only ever really use in the final round against Xehanort in Kingdom Hearts 3, and Trinity Shield seems like it'd be an easier power to call on at a moment's notice. Plus, I just wanted to have Sora showcase how his years of working with those two have helped him to develop special powers and attacks like that to everyone on Remnant._**

**_Sora: And what was with my dialogue about the Attraction Flow we used this time?_**

**_AN: Well, here's the way I see it, at least in the case of this story: Sora's Attraction Flow, while controllable, can be very random a lot of the time, kinda like how Ben 10's Omnitrix will sometimes mess up and give him the wrong alien, so obviously, Sora's not always going to get the Attraction Flow he wants. The specific dialogue that was used here for this one is drawn off the fact that most of the time when I'm playing Kingdom Hearts 3, Blaster Blaze is the one that I get most of the time. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against it, but there are some situations where I feel like some of the other ones would be a better option in those cases._**

**_Blake: And then there's the fact that Adam's shown up at last, and it looks like Luxu has something else up his sleeve for later on besides Nobodies and Heartless._**

**_AN: Indeed. But as to what the other creatures Luxu's bringing to the table are, my answer for now is this...Not telling!_**

**_Ruby: There's creatures in Kingdom Hearts called Not Telling?_**

**_Weiss: No, you dunce! He means that he's not going to tell us what they are!_**

**_Ruby: Oh...I knew that._**

**_AN: You'll be waiting quite a while until you find out what nasty surprise Luxu has in store for our heroes is, but let's talk about the other big matter that happened here today..._**

**_Yang: The moment when Lea met with my mom. [glowers a little at the memory]_**

**_AN: Yeah, that. I figured Raven would curious about why the Keyblade wielders are really on Remnant, or at the very least, assume that they were Ozpin's newest lieutenants in his war against Salem, and since Lea has a certain history to him, he seemed like the most logical choice for her to approach. You know, that and the fact that he's dating her daughter, but that's a bit of a side note in this case. And oh, what's this? Yen Sid seems to be in on the big secret and has been keeping a few things from our favorite Kingdom Hearts heroes? What could that mean? Well, I mean, obviously Yen Sid was in on the secret, given that he referred to Ozpin as Ozma in previous chapters, but now it seems that Yen Sid's hiding that stuff from our heroes for another reason as well. What could that possibly be, you may ask? Oh, now won't that be a juicy little detail to find out later on._**

**_And yeah, Lea's now stuck with a dilemma of whether or not he should tell Yang about his meeting with Raven. I mean, you would be too if you were in that position, right? Well, he's got plenty of time to get his stories straight on that matter, because now, comes this stories next arc, and it's not RWBY Vol. 3. No, it's this story's very own, original arc. The RWBY World Travels Arc!_**

**_Everyone other than AN: [just stares at him while crickets chirp]_**

**_AN: It's a working name for the moment, and it's the best I've got. So yeah, we're going to see those three teams going to a bunch of different worlds for the next arc of chapters, and let me go ahead and say now that there will be no original or new worlds appearing in this arc. Okay? There won't be any Star Wars, no Disney Channel Worlds, no Marvel worlds, none of that this time. We're sticking with worlds that Sora and the gang have visited in previous Kingdom Hearts games. Oh, and just to be clear, it won't just be Teams RWBY and JNPR the whole time. There will be moments when some of their other friends from Remnant join in as well, but only on certain worlds. I'll be keeping which friends and those specific worlds a secret for now though._**

_**Roxas: That seems to be a reoccurring theme with you this time around.**_

**_AN: Only this time? Now then, let's answer some of last chapter's reviews, shall we?_**

**_"SuperSayainFever", there could be any number of explanations why Neo works for Torchwick, but do you really think she'd be better off with Joker of all people?! Look what the guy's done to Harley, or Jason Todd. Yeah, if we really want her to end up getting better, I think she'd be better off away from people as crazy as that clown._**

**_"Dragon Rider 66", the reason why Sora's the only one who can use the summon charms at the moment is because he's got the most experience, and he hasn't had the chance to really teach them how to use them yet. Ven's never really used a honest summon before. The closest he's gotten is the D-Links, and that doesn't count. I'm pretty sure Roxas has never used anything like a summon charm either, and Lea...yeah, that should answer itself. Also, to answer your question about Roxas and the Samurais, it is similar to how Sora summons Dream Eaters for special attacks, but Roxas's use of the Samurais is a bit more elaborate than that, since the Samurais can think for themselves to a slightly larger extent than the Dream Eaters. You'll see just what I mean when Roxas calls them into action later on in the story. And yes, I'm well-aware of what this does for some people's expectations for Keyblade Legion._**

**_"CT7567Rules", I'm pretty sure that those train cars were probably left down there from when the people were still using the train to get to and from Mountain Glenn, and the White Fang and Torchwick just fixed them up while adding some extra armaments or something. Sorry to say that we won't be seeing Spider-Man or Ahsoka getting summoned in this story though. This isn't the Keyblades Unleashed series. There's not going to be any original summons like that just yet._**

**_"Monkey D. Conan", Xion finding out about what Neo typed to Roxas is a little up in the air at the moment. Probably going to be one of those things where it's all "what happened on the mission, stays on the mission", or something for now. If she does find out though, she's likely to be very flustered for a while though. Hard to say what would happen after that has passed at the moment. Ven's past will start off as something of a personal thing for him, if and/or when it starts coming into play, but it could expand a little more to have a larger effect on the story as a whole, at least in terms of the actual series. As for your questions about Winter and Qrow's reactions to their respective family members' new relationships...Yeah, I'm keeping all further family reactions to that topic under wraps for now. You'll see a bit more on that when we get to the revealing point. Same goes for what happens when Aqua and Winter meet._**

**_"Spiderfan626", I can confirm a very real possibility of Neo's interest in Roxas and Xion both will more than likely carry over into SLVR Chibi when that becomes a thing. Also, any Final Fantasy characters that show up here likely won't be for a little while longer, unless they're ones that we've already seen show up. You know, if our heroes decide to visit Radiant Garden to check in on Leon and his crew at any point._**

**_Now then, I think I've covered everything, so it's time to give you all a hint on what you should expect in the next chapter, and for the part of one of the RWBY World Travels Arc!_**

**_[crickets chirp again]_**

**_Shut up. That's quickly turning over to the point of not funny. More importantly, Onto the Preview!..._**

**_Another adventure through the worlds has begun, and this time, Sora's team is bigger than ever! Without wasting any time, the team heads for a world that they know to be home to one of the New Seven Princesses of Heart. Will Teams RWBY and JNPR be able to handle the differences of this world? What sort of adventures will they all get into with Sora's old friends? The only thing that's certain is that the whole thing will be a very _****hair_-raising ride. Eh? Eh? Come on. You guys know that was good. I mean, they're all going to get really _tangled_ up in some fun…I'm sorry! I'm pretty sure Yang somehow did a lot of the writing for this preview. Either way, the first stop on this tour of the worlds is coming, next time!_**

**_Yang: Hey! What was that supposed to mean about me writing some of that preview?_**

**_AN: Don't think I didn't see you sneaking into the writing room after finding out where you guys are going for the first world. I know you did!_**

**_Yang: [looks away to hide a sneaky grin that all but confirms it along with her knowing chuckles]_**

**_AN: Anyways, I'd better check on the assistant and see if he..._**

**_Weiss: Oh, he actually showed up a little while ago to give you this._**

**_AN: [takes note from Weiss] What am I looking at here?...Okay, let's see..."Too much to handle...Your mind's far beyond my capabilities of keeping up with...official resignation due to how crazy this all..." Official resignation?! Oh no! I don't think so! We have a contract that says he can't quit until he's been working here for a full 24 hours! Hey, where is that guy! I need to get him back here!_**

**_Ruby: Yeah...I think he already left._**

**_AN: Oh...Well...Never mind then. Guess that whole assistant idea worked about as well as expected. Anyways..._**

**_Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy._**


	16. Festivities in Corona

_**AN: Whoo-wee! That took a little longer than I originally expected, but at long last, we've got another one up. That's right folks, I'm back again, with another chapter of Remnant of the Key, and the first of the RWBY World Travels Arc! Don't you dare do any cricket chirps!**_

_**Ruby: Seriously? Are you still calling it that? Why not the Worlds Tour Arc?**_

_**Yang: Yeah. I mean, not that I'm complaining about it too much, but does it really have to have our team's name in it?**_

_**AN: That's not the point! And it's not important right now, considering how long it's been since this was last updated.**_

_**Blake: And who's fault is that?**_

_**AN: Hey! I've got stuff going on outside of all this, and other stories to update too. Why are you even complaining? It's not like I haven't done work on anything that you're all featured in.**_

_**Ruby: Well yeah, you've done an update or two for RWBY Meetings, but considering that tends to jump back and forth across various points of our series's timeline with each chapter, it kinda gets a little disorienting after a while.**_

_**AN: Well, here's something that's a little more consistent, and I can promise that the next RWBY Meetings Chapter won't be taking place too far off from where this story currently is in your series's timeline too.**_

_**Sora: Hey, I'm pretty excited for this one too. I know it hasn't been that long, but it still feels like it's been ages since we were all last working together.**_

_**Lea: I know, right? Say by the way, how much longer are we going to have to wait until SLVR Chibi gets started?**_

_**AN: Give it some time, please. I'm focusing on all the major stories right now, and unloading various ideas into RWBY Meetings at the same time. Not to mention that I've also been working on a certain special project since the start of the year. It will happen eventually, but for now, I just ask that you all be patient.**_

_**Roxas: Wait, a special project? What kind of special project? Is it another new story that acts as like a huge crossover between all the stories and series you've written so far?  
**_

_**AN: [seen writing something on a notepad as he talks] No, but that is an interesting idea, I may think a few things over on that later. I mean, I've technically done crossovers between a couple of stories/series in the past already, so...But as for what this project is, give it at least another week, maybe two at the most, keep an eye on all my stories as they each get their next updates in the near future, along with my profile page, and you'll find out soon enough. Right now though, it's time we got things...under...What-what is she doing?**_

_**Everyone other than AN: [turns to look over at Weiss]**_

_**Weiss: [doing an impressive happy dance routine with a large smile on her face]**_

_**Ruby: Oh yeah. Almost forgot that she's been doing that a lot lately whenever she had a chance to.**_

_**AN: How long has this been going on?**_

_**Yang: Oh you know. Ever since a certain episode of Volume 7. Namely episode 9?**_

_**AN: Ah, right. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense now. If you haven't seen that episode yet, watch it when you next get the chance, along with the rest of Volume 7 if you haven't seen any of it yet, otherwise, you all have probably figured out why Weiss is so happy about the events of that episode right now.**_

_**Blake: Well, you can't blame her for celebrating that particular event. It certainly counts as one of the really good things that happened in Volume 7, despite how things have taken a turn for us by the end of it.**_

_**AN: Okay, we should probably stop talking about all of this now for the sake of everyone who hasn't caught up yet, or who just haven't seen Volume 7 for whatever reason. Let's move on to today's chapter before anything else happens. [glances at Weiss again to see she's still dancing] And maybe think about calling someone in case she doesn't stop. I'm not sure how long she's doing that today alone, but if its really been as much as you guys have implied, I can't help but wonder how healthy that really is for her.**_

**_I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story._**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Festivities of Corona**

Even after going to other worlds at least once with their Keyblade wielding classmates before, Teams RWBY and JNPR were still left buzzing with excitement as they saw their surroundings outside the stealth gummi change from what they knew to be Remnant's sky to the stars and colors of interspace. The fact that they were now joining Team SLVR on a real adventure through other worlds, even if it was technically just a patrol for any Heartless or other similar dangers/threats, only added to the excitement they all shared. Just hearing about all the adventures that Sora and the others had each gone on was enough to make them wonder what such journeys would be like, so having a chance to get something close to that now, and going through with taking the chance was making them even more excited than ever before. Some of them more than others.

"We're going on a world adventure. We're going on a world adventure. Today's, the day; hip-hip hooray! We're going on a world adventure! Wee!" Nora could not help but sing ever since they had flown out of the world barrier and into the space between worlds.

As amusing as Nora's excitement was, it did not stop everyone from trying to correct her on her description of this journey. "It's not an adventure, Nora. We're just patrolling worlds we've visited in the past," Ventus reminded her.

"With the worlds of the Previous and New Seven Lights taking the top priority spots," Lea added on.

"Hey, you can't blame her for being excited. This is probably the closest any of us are going to get to experiencing a journey like the ones you guys went on before we all met," Jaune reminded him. Surprisingly, even to him, he had still not gotten sick, so Jaune took that to be a good sign of how well he would hold up on this world-hopping trip.

"He's got a point. We're all pretty much thinking that way about this trip," Yang agreed.

"Now it's just a matter of deciding where we're going to go first," Roxas stated as he looked over the world map in an attempt to figure out what world the group would decide on as their first stop.

Hearing that prompted Lea to perk up from his contemplative silence once more. He been really quiet ever since they took off, still racking his brain over whether or not he should tell Yang about his encounter with Raven, but the minute he heard Roxas mentioned deciding on a destination, he just had to voice a thought or two. "Can we please, for the love of all that is good in any world _not_ go to Wonderland first," he begged.

"Oh trust me, I was already planning on putting that stop off for as long as possible," Sora assured him, adding to the already growing confusion of their Remnant friends.

"Wonderland? You mean the first world you visited after Traverse Town, Sora," Ruby recalled from her memories about the stories their friends had told them.

"Yeah, that'd be the one, and I'd honestly rather avoid going back there again if we can help it," Sora confirmed.

"Why? What's so bad about a place with a name like Wonderland," Ren asked.

"You ever hear the phrase 'down the rabbit hole and into madness,'" Roxas asked, getting nods from Ren and the others shortly after. "Well, Wonderland is the literal, living definition of that, because there's never any telling what could happen when you so much as touch something there."

"Oh please. I'm sure you must be exaggerating," Weiss waved off, clearly not believing his claims.

"Weiss, you do remember what I told you about my first visit to Wonderland, right? Namely the parts about how their were soldiers that were basically living playing cards, a crazy magic cat that spoke in riddles, a talking doorknob, and a room in which you could walk on the ceiling or the walls depending on which entrance you came through," Sora reminded her.

"And that's without the crazy treats that make you turn into a giant or a tiny little bug," Roxas added.

"Not to mention that Queen of Hearts chick who thought everything she believed and said was right, and so much as suggesting otherwise was punishable by death," Lea finished.

Hearing all of that, Weiss could not help but concede defeat as she said, "Okay, yeah, that does sound pretty crazy."

"Do we even need to go there though," Pyrrha asked, not entirely comfortable with the idea of going to a place that was ruled by someone like this Queen of Hearts.

"Unfortunately," Sora sighed. "It is technically a world where one of the Previous Seven lives, or at least a world that we need to go to in order reach her, but right now, I'm thinking we should try to stick with a world that's close to our location, and Wonderland is nowhere near to us right now."

"So what worlds are close to us," Blake then asked, curious about what their current options were at the moment.

"Have a look for yourselves," Roxas offered, and with a few taps at the controls of his station, the world map he was studying was transferred over to the cockpit's main view screen, granting everyone a look at the map. "Here's our current location," Roxas stated as he indicated the point on the map where a small, digital model of their ship was positioned to signify their location, a spot that they could all see was right next to the map's image of Remnant. Roxas then went on to indicate a few other points on the larger map while explaining, "At the moment, we're close to three different worlds that are home to a Princess of Heart. Two of those worlds being the homes of one of the Previous Seven, and the third one being the home for one of the New Seven."

"And the Previous Seven are all worlds that Sora's been to in the past, right," Yang recalled.

"Not exactly. I may have met all of the Previous Seven Princesses, but I've only ever been to the worlds of three of them," Sora admitted.

"Four if you count Radiant Garden, considering that it was the original home of…lucky number seven," Lea piped in, hesitating only because he was still not sure if it was okay to mention that princess by name around Sora yet.

"Axel, relax. I'm not going to freak out if you mention Kairi's name or something. Old Sora's back, remember? It's totally fine now," Sora assured him.

While Weiss and Team JNPR were a little confused about what the two were talking about, the rest of the crew were feeling relieved to hear that Sora was doing better when it came to talking about Kairi now. Seeing the confusion some of their friends had about the topic, the team who was in the know about that resolved to fill in the blanks at a later date. It was a wonder that they would have been able to bring it up before, even in passing, given all that had happened over the last few days, but right now, they had other things to worry about, the first of those being the decision on their first destination.

Deciding to be the one that steered them back on topic, Ruby promptly asked, "So, you have no idea what those other three worlds might be like?"

"He doesn't, but I do. Aqua, Terra, and I visited those worlds during that whole mess with the Unversed," Ventus told her.

"Good thing, because it looks like the two worlds of the former princesses are two of the ones you three had visited: Enchanted Dominion and the Dwarf Woodlands," Roxas named.

"And the third one," Sora asked.

"The Kingdom of Corona; aka the world you visited when you first learned about the New Seven Lights," Roxas informed him.

"So which one do you guys think we should go to," Blake prompted, prompting everyone to defer to the Keyblade wielders' judgment on which world they should choose.

The four members of Team SLVR all adopted thinking poses as they quietly considered the three options, until Lea finally said, "Well, I know that the New Seven are kind of the more important group to check in on, given that they're the ones with the all-important seven pure lights now, but the other two worlds are a bit closer to us than Corona, so why not stop at one of those worlds?"

"Yeah, I mean, I have wondered for a while what the rest of the Previous Seven's worlds were like, and right now, those are the only two that I haven't been to," Sora agreed, even if his reason was a little more personal than anything.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Ventus denied.

"Why not," Roxas asked.

"Let's just say that I'm not too eager to have another run-in with the seven dwarves anytime soon after the last time I saw them," Ventus admitted while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I mean, I know Aqua said that they had changed and weren't likely to treat me the same way that they had before, but I'm not in too big of a hurry for them to chase us away while accusing me of being a bad guy again."

"'Again,'" Weiss repeated in question.

"Long story," Ventus told her. "Short version is that I visited their mine to see if they knew anything about Terra, since I was looking for him at the time, and the first thing they assumed upon seeing me was that I was a diamond thief. The fact that I ended up chasing them through the mine in an effort to get them to talk with me probably didn't help my case."

"Okay, we'll hold off on going to the Dwarf Woodlands for a little bit longer then, but that still doesn't explain what the problem with Enchanted Dominion is," Sora pointed out.

"Yeah, I mean its home to both Princess Aurora and the three good fairies that made all of our magic outfits, isn't it," Lea remembered.

"It is, but it's also where Maleficent is from," Ventus finally revealed.

"Oh! Yeah, that is kinda bad," Sora nodded in understanding, with Lea and Roxas doing the same soon after.

"You mean that evil witch that was behind everything that happened on your first journey, Sora," Weiss remembered.

"Ha! I'm sure we could take some old crone like her easy," Nora declared while flexing her arm muscles.

"Nora, you do remember that this is the same witch that is known as the mistress of all evil, right," Ren asked his childhood friend.

"So what? I'm not scared of her," Nora huffed.

"You probably should be, considering that she's the one who nearly drowned all the worlds in darkness just a couple years ago," Blake pointed out.

"Technically she was more of the second-in-command on that whole plot. Xehanort's Heartless was the one who was really pulling the strings at that time," Sora clarified.

"And for the record, she's actually a fairy not a witch," Ventus added in correction.

"Does it really matter either way? You're still saying that if we go to Enchanted Dominion, there's a chance that we'll run into her there, right," Lea asked.

"That sounds about accurate, yeah," Ventus confirmed.

"Maybe, but then again, it could be worth the risk," Sora reasoned, getting everyone's attention. "We haven't heard all that much from Maleficent or Pete lately; at least not since I ran into them on my last visit to Olympus and found out they were after some mysterious black box, so maybe there's a clue on where they are now in whatever place Maleficent used as a hideout on her world."

"Sora's got a point. If she really is as dangerous as you guys say she is, it might be a good idea to look for clues that could lead to wherever she's hiding right now, especially if it means it'll stop her from getting that box," Ruby agreed.

"Why do you think it would be necessary to keep her from getting the box," Weiss asked.

"Well, normally if the bad guys want something, it usually isn't for a good reason, or there's also a chance that the thing they're after shouldn't be in the wrong hands," Ruby reasoned.

"Yeah, that is pretty much the case with just about anything that involves Maleficent," Sora confirmed.

"Still, Master Yen Sid and Mickey are actively trying to locate Maleficent and Pete right now, so they might've already thought to check there. If they couldn't find anything, I kinda doubt we'd have much better luck," Ventus revealed with a shrug.

"It might still be worth at least having a look," Lea argued.

"He's right, so I say we at least consider going there for that at a later time," Sora decided. "We're going to have to visit each world that's home to the old and new Princesses of Heart eventually, so we might as well plan on doing that for when we go to Enchanted Dominion. For right now though, the New Seven Hearts are the bigger priority, like Lea said, so I say we head for the Kingdom of Corona first. Sound good to everyone?"

Everyone nodded in agreement on that, with Ren even going so far as to say, "It does seem to be the only one that no one has a problem with, so we might as well."

"Alright then, everyone buckle up. I'm setting our course and activating the warp gummi," Sora announced as the map disappeared from the view screen and he turned about in his seat so that he was facing forward again.

Seeing as they were already buckled up, everyone really just turned their attention forwards as Sora worked the controls and jettisoned them into warp speed, sending the ship rocketing to the Kingdom of Corona. Barely more than three minutes after the fact, Weiss decided to ask a rather important question.

"Just how long will it take us to get there? I don't think any of us want to be late getting back," the heiress questioned.

"Traveling at warp speed, it shouldn't take us long to get there at all. Probably just a few minutes at best," Sora assured her. "That's the great thing about warp gummis; they make travel between worlds take very little time at all, and allow you to basically skip right past any trouble that could pop up along the way."

"Yeah, until they need to recharge," Lea cut in.

"I'm sorry; what?"

"Yeah, the stealth gummi ship's warp gummi is an experimental new model that would allow us to have both the cloaking tech and the warp capabilities, so it needs to recharge after a set number of uses or distances traveled. It was in the manual for the ship, remember," Lea reminded Sora. When his team leader remained silent without turning to look at him, the redhead quickly came to a single conclusion. "You didn't read the ship's manual, did you?"

"I thought the only change in how the ship worked was the stealth system! Nobody ever said that there was more than that," Sora protested.

"How long would it take to get to other worlds without the warp gummi then," Jaune inquired.

"It depends on how far apart the two worlds in question are, and the route you want to take," Roxas informed him. "Considering Sora's doing most of the driving though, I don't think we have to worry about accidentally taking any scenic routes."

"No matter what the case is, it's not like it really matters that much. We've already got the gummi ship tracking how much time passes on Remnant so that we'll know when to head back," Ventus assured everyone.

That statement confused a few people a little bit, prompting another explanation from the Keyblade wielders, this time from their team leader. "Time often flows differently on two different worlds. Sometimes it could be as simple as it being dinner time on one world while it's time to get up and get breakfast on another, and other times, it could be so extreme to the point where an hour could have gone by on one world while several years have passed on another. That's why every time we've left Remnant for another world since we first arrived and enrolled at Beacon, we made it a point to make sure that most of the clocks on the ship were synched up to the ones on Remnant, if for no other reason than to make sure that we did not miss too much while we were gone."

"So what's the time difference between each of your worlds and ours," Yang inquired, now curious about that detail.

The four boys had to stop and think about that for a minute, until they finally realized that they had no clue, prompting Lea to actually look up that information on the ship's computer. After a few seconds, he finally got his answer, and said, "Well look at that. It turns out that Destiny Islands, Radiant Garden, the Land of Departure, and Twilight Town all share the same time scale and flow as Remnant."

"Wow, really," Ruby gasped in awe.

"That means that we could visit any of your worlds too while we're on this trip," Nora cheered, clearly just as excited as Ruby was.

"Only if we have time. Remember, we are technically on a mission, and we have to get everything done before the Vytal Festival and the tournament has started, so don't be too disappointed if we end up only getting to visit one or two other worlds in addition to the ones we actually need to go to," Sora cautioned the two.

Aside from the two moans of disappointment that Ruby and Nora let out upon hearing that, the rest of the flight to the Kingdom of Corona was spent in relative silence. Yes, there was a bit of small talk here and there, but for the most part, they just relaxed and spent their time mentally preparing for whatever they would encounter while they were on this world. In the case of the Remnant-born adventurers, they were doing their best to not jump out of their seats in excitement at the idea of visiting another one of the worlds that Sora and the others had told them about, especially since this was a world that was home to one of the Princesses of Heart. After hearing all about the maidens with hearts of pure light and what they represent, they had all drawn up various ideas of just what kind of people these princesses would be like. Sure, Team JNPR had kind of met Cinderella already, but they had not really had much of a chance to really talk with her before carrying out their mission with Team SLVR. This time, there was a chance they were going to properly interact and speak with these unique and powerful individuals, and not a single one of them could wait for when it happened.

* * *

"Wow," was the first word that Ruby had slowly breathed out after they had teleported down from the stealth gummi, and everyone from Remnant had to agree with her. Sure, they had all seen many forested areas before, but this one was a lot different, mainly because of the large, lone tower that rose up from the center of the clearing they were standing in. Even with all kinds of long vines growing up the sides, and most of the bricks looking rather worn out from old age, it was still an amazing sight to see. Add in how the top of the tower had a window that looked out over the surrounding clearing, giving an easy view of the small pond and river below, and you could understand why the group of huntsmen-in-training were all so mystified by the place.

The four Keyblade wielders on the other hand, who had all at least seen pictures of this location before, simply smirked in amusement over how awestruck the majority of their group was by this simple sight. Sure, the tower was in a very beautiful location, and it stuck out in a way that made it something you do not see every day, but if they were getting this impressed by just that, then they could not wait to see the looks on their faces when they something that was truly an impressive sight to behold. All amusement aside though, there was one thing that actually bugged most of the boys a little, and it did not take long for one of them to question their team's leader about it.

"Hey Sora, isn't this the tower that you said Rapunzel spent most of her life growing up in," Roxas recalled.

"If by 'most of her life' you mean 'all of her life growing up until Flynn stumbled onto this place,' then yes," Sora clarified.

"So…why would you have us land all the way out here," asked Lea. "It's in the middle of the forest and nowhere close to the actual kingdom. Gonna be a little hard to check in on things with one of our New Seven Lights when we're not even close to where she hangs her hat these days."

"And if you say that it's because you think we could use the exercise, I will break your arm," Ventus cautioned.

"Okay, I won't say that's one of the reasons," Sora shrugged with a smile, indicating that it probably was, even if he did not say it. He turned a little more serious again as he revealed, "The big reason though is because of what I heard about this world from Aqua and Riku whenever they told me about the times that they or one of our other friends visited. According to them, the Heartless and any lingering Nobodies usually leave the kingdom alone for the most part, but out here in the forest and any other area that's not heavily populated they tend to pop up like weeds. And no, I'm not making a pun because of the fact that a lot of Heartless on this world are plant-based in some way. I figured that we could start from here and take out any monsters we run into along the way so that we can better guarantee the safety of any travelers that pass through."

"That's actually not a bad idea," Jaune agreed, having tuned into the conversation the moment he heard Lea ask why Sora chose this as their landing site. "I mean, if there's no immediate danger to the princess, then it wouldn't hurt for us to take our time getting to her, especially if it means that we'd be keeping people safe by taking out any monsters that could threaten them on their travels."

Everyone else shared similar agreements with that assessment, and were more than ready to head out from there, save for Yang, who had a very sneaky grin on her face as she looked at Sora. "And it serves as a good excuse for you to share a romantic walk through the forest with a certain _someone_, doesn't it," teased the blonde, slyly eyeing her sister as she did.

Despite the fact that the idea had not crossed his mind, Sora still blushed brightly at the implication to the point where he was sure that anything he said to the contrary would not be believed whether it was true or not. Thankfully, his girlfriend was more than happy to come to his defense. "Yang, this is serious! Sora knows that we don't have time for that kind of thing when we're on an important mission," Ruby snapped at her older sister, much to Sora's smiling relief. "Besides, if he was going to do something like that, I doubt he'd really have teleported the whole group to this spot. Maybe just one or two extra people, like Jaune and Pyrrha, or you and Lea so that it could be more of a double-date, but not everyone." And just like that, his smile was wiped away as Ruby threw him back under the bus.

"Yeah, you have a point. He does come off as one of the more romantic types who would rather not have a huge crowd watching you two if it can be avoided," Yang nodded in agreement, still half-teasingly since she was sure that Sora was just like that based off what Lea and the others on Team SLVR had said about him.

"Okay! Time to get going, everyone," Sora loudly announced, putting an abrupt end on the teasing session while spinning about and leading them through the cave that would put them back in the main forest. Still, despite the teasing, he had noticed that Ruby had gained a faint tinge of pink on her cheeks along with an eager smile when Yang brought up the idea of a romantic stroll through the woods, and thought, _'Note to self, remember that forest stroll idea for a future date with Ruby. Might even work well with the picnic idea I already had in mind.'_

Upon exiting the hidden cave entrance to Rapnuzel's former home/prison, the team of twelve began their journey to the actual kingdom on the Kingdom of Corona, and as they went, the eight from Remnant were quickly able to take in the sights and wonders of the forest around them. Sure, it probably was not too special from any other forest most of them had seen before, but considering that it was a forest of another world, the appeal was easily increased. Add in how the trees were not as packed together as those of places like the Emerald Forest, the clear sky, and the shinning sun, and it would be more of a wonder that any of them did not look around with eager smiles like kids at a playground. Of course, the sights and beauty of the forest was not the only thing that they were able to stop and stare in awe at.

Since they were no longer on Remnant and in the company of people who knew their full story, or at the basics of said story at the very least, the guys of Team SLVR could not help but grin happily the moment that they finally faced a real battle, because it meant that they had no reason to hold back their full powers. Everyone amongst their group knew this already, but it was not until a group of Heartless finally appeared that the other eight finally realized just how much they were holding back. Sure, Team RWBY had gotten a glimpse of the fact once before in Twilight Town, but now, they were getting a full display of just how much power each of the four Keyblade wielders were keeping under wraps while they were out in public on Remnant. It was barely even a few minutes after they had left the cove where Rapunzel's tower stood when the Heartless appeared, and the Keyblade wielders instantly set to work in dealing with the little monsters.

In cases like Sora's, there was not really much of a change from what they had already seen him normally do on Remnant. Part of that was because out of everyone on his team, Sora was the most well-rounded of the four, but he did show that he was still holding back something when he started throwing out all the different types of spells that he would not normally use on Remnant and even his Shotlocks. The first of which was one of the Shotlocks that went with the Keyblade he had acquired after his first visit to this very world: Ever After, and the sight was rather blinding, given that Spectral Rays consisted of various, rapid light beams being shot off in multiple directions at once, all on whatever he had targeted before firing, but thankfully, it was not as bad as it could have been had Sora used that power in a darker location or at night. The next surprising thing that Sora showcased was his Formchange that went with that same Keyblade: Mirage Staff, and once again, they could see the reason why he did not use it that much on Remnant if at all. Sure, the change in coloring that his clothes took on could easily be passed off, but the way he moved and fought with that form was definitely not something you could explain away easily by saying it was either due to a weapon power or a Semblance. Sure, he could say the energy beams and basically sliding along the ground were part of his Energy Manipulation Semblance, and maybe the ethereal copies that he created every time he dodged too, but there was no way he could say that suddenly creating a stone tower out of nowhere to fire multiple rays of light around him was part of such a Semblance. It was just too much of a stretch for anyone to believe.

Ventus was one of the ones who were really able to cut loose, as he showcased all of his talents with both his Shotlocks and Command Styles. Since he had to sell the idea that his Semblance was Wind Control, Ventus had always stuck with his powers that were based in said element, so he hardly ever used any of the other powers that he had up his sleeves. Not that he had a problem with that; wind magic was his best element, but he did still feel really limited by not being able to use anything more than the basic spells when it came to the other elements of magic in his arsenal. As such, when he unleashed the full power of his Firestorm Command Style, everyone was more than a little surprised by how much he seemed to enjoy himself. It was almost like someone had swapped his and Lea's minds to some of them. Add in the fact that he also made it a point to power up with his Wingblade and Rhythm Mixer Command Styles and you could definitely tell that Ven was having a lot more fun now.

Roxas and Lea were probably the only ones that did not need to do too much different with going all out in their attacks, since most of their best moves could be played off as part of what they claimed was their Semblances. If anything, the only change was that they could use their powers to the full extent, as opposed to how they had tried to limit themselves on Remnant, meaning Roxas slashed through several enemies at a speed that was almost faster than light, while Lea unleashed several more explosives fires than he normally did. Aside from that, Roxas did take the time to test out his abilities to summon the Samurais to his aid, and he was not disappointed. When he learned that Roxas had regained control of his old Nobody followers, Sora had not hesitated in helping Roxas to create a Heartbinder that would better help him to summon the Samurais no matter what world they were on. It seemed a little odd to Roxas that they were able to create such a thing, given that most Nobodies did not have hearts, especially in the case of the high-ranking Dusks, but he was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, and when he saw how quickly the Samurai appeared around him to aid in the attack upon activating the Heartbinder in question, Roxas could only grin excitedly that it had worked.

What really drove home the fact that the Keyblade wielders were holding back or at least that Sora was, was the moment when Sora used another of his Heartbinders to call on his old friend Simba for help. The Remnant kids were all left gaping in awe from the second that the massive lion stepped forward from the brilliant blaze that erupted around Sora when he activated the Heartbinder, and seeing the fact that so much as moving around a battlefield allowed Simba to damage enemies, while his every pounce and loud, echoing roar set out a brilliant blaze did not help with getting their jaws up off the ground, either. Blake especially seemed to like this summon, and in her mind, she could not help but think that her father might like this summon if he ever saw it for himself.

It did not stop with just their fighting abilities either, as they soon saw when they finally came to the cliffs that stood between them and the kingdom. While everyone was trying to puzzle out how they could get over or around the small mountains, Sora had simply just backed up so he could take a running start, and leap up towards the side of the cliff in front of them. Ruby was the first to notice this, but it was not until she let out a gasp of shock that the others saw what she had, and their jaws all dropped once more, this time at the sight of Sora actually running straight up the rocky wall in front of them like it was nothing, until he had reached the top and spun himself up onto the ledge. Sure, they had all seen Ruby do something similar back in the Emerald Forest, but she had the help of her Semblance, her scythe, and Weiss's glyphs. Sora did not have any of those things, and he ran up the rock wall like he was just taking a simple jog down the sidewalk, so the shock and awe was more than understandable, at least for everyone that had never seen it before.

"Hey, are you guys coming or what," Sora called to them when he realized that no one else was following him.

"Sora, how did you…Did you just…What the heck was that," shouted Ruby, too shocked to properly speak right away.

"What was what," Sora asked.

"Are you kidding me?! You just ran up the side of a cliff like it was the ground," was the remark of an incredulous Jaune after he heard that. "How can you act like that's just normal?"

"Seriously? We've seen you guys do a lot weirder things than that," Lea reminded everyone from Remnant. "Like flying or swinging through the air, or even dropping from huge heights and not breaking any bones in your bodies when you land. Not to mention the kinds of hits that you've tanked when fighting bad guys and monsters."

"Yeah, because of things like Aura, our Semblances, or our weapons," Yang pointed out. "Even Ruby needed some extra help from Weiss to do that when she ran up the cliff and beheaded a Nevermore during Initiation, and she's already plenty fast with or without her Semblance."

Seeing that his latest feat had left his friends bewildered to the point where they were not likely to move from their current spot any time soon, Sora jumped down from his spot at the top of the cliff he had just run up, landing with an easy roll once he hit the ground, and stood up straight so he could speak with the group without having to shout. "Hey, it's not that big of a deal. Anybody can do it," Sora revealed.

"Then why haven't we ever seen any huntsmen or huntresses doing it, or at least been given some lessons on how to do it while at Beacon," asked Ren.

Ventus was the one who answered that question. "Its kinda part of the whole world order thing. See the truth of the matter is that everyone, no matter what world they're from, has some type of latent magic power deep inside them that can allow them to do all kinds of things. Walking up or along walls, dropping from huge heights without worry about injury, or even breathing underwater are just some the simplest things that anyone could learn how to do once they've figured out how to tap into their pool of inner magic, and special powers like Flowmotion, Glide, or even Doubleflight are just an extra powerful extension of all that."

"So are you saying that even we could do stuff like that, despite the fact that magic doesn't exist on Remnant," Blake asked.

"To a certain extent, yeah, probably," Lea shrugged.

Ruby grinned eagerly after hearing that, and quickly asked, "You guys have got to teach us everything! Like how to shoot fireballs, freeze bad guys, summon lightning storms, and every other cool magic power you've got!"

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down, Ruby, it's not that easy," Sora placated. "Tapping into that inner pool of magic for anything big isn't something you can just do at any time. You'd have to at least be a little aware of its existence from a really young age, or been exposed to an outside source of magic that responds to you in some manner. Otherwise, the only way you guys could use some of our more fantastic powers would be if you suddenly got a Keyblade or some other type of magic weapon or artifact to act as a kind of focusing tool."

"That or one of you turns out to be someone like a Princess of Heart or something," Roxas added on.

"Aww! I wanted to be able to throw lightning at bad guys," whined Nora.

"Hey, just because you can't do the big fancy stuff, doesn't mean we can't at least show you some of the more basic, easy things like wall running," Sora pointed out.

"Yeah…'Easy,' he says," muttered Jaune, with his teammates in JNPR nodding in agreement. Still, he was right with the rest of his friends that were lining up for Sora's impromptu class on how to use the "simple" magic power, as the Keybearer had described it.

When he saw that everyone was standing at attention for him, Sora had to pause for a second, hardly believing that he had gotten into this situation, but he managed to collect himself and roll with it all the same. Just not without giving them some kind of warning at first. "Just so you guys know, I've never really done any kind of teaching like this before, so forgive me if I do a bad job with it," Sora told them, earning amused smiles from everyone that helped him relax a bit better. "Okay, so when it comes to running up a wall, it might help if you think of it as more like running up a steep slope. It also helps to take a running start, like you guys saw me do, but you don't necessarily have to jump up towards the wall. I just did it just now because I've gotten so used to doing that kind of thing when I was just exploring worlds."

"So basically, we just need to run at the wall while telling ourselves that it's not a wall but a steep hill or something," Blake questioned, clearly not thinking it was that simple.

"Actually, yeah, pretty much. It also helps if you picture yourself doing it in your head. Another way to look at it is to view the wall as not a wall to climb up, but another direction that you can go on a path that you're walking along," Sora replied, apparently having missed the questioning part of Blake's statement. Or it could have been that he just ignored it and pressed on like Blake's words were her attempt at finding a good comparison.

Still, Blake was not the only skeptic in the group, as Ren quickly proved. "Sora, while I do recognize and respect that you have experience with magic, I can't help but think that you're oversimplifying the whole thing a little."

"Hey, I don't blame you for feeling that way, Ren; I was the same way when I first started learning magic," Sora admitted with an easy-going smile that was distinctly his. "When Donald and Merlin were first explaining how my magic powers worked to me, I thought they were just trying to mess with me or they were just treating me like a little kid who didn't get that most things in the world were more complicated than they were in fairy tales, but the truth is, when it comes to this kind of magic, it really is that simple. That's the one thing I've learned best during my time as a Keyblade wielder: when it comes to magic, it's usually as simple as wishing for something to happen. Like when I cast any variety of ice magic, I have to want my opponent to freeze in order to make it work."

"So in order to walk on this wall like you did just now, we just have to want it to happen," Pyrrha asked.

"Basically," Sora shrugged. "Although, this may be simple, it would help if you guys start to work on getting a mindset that would allow you to quickly access that power without prep time, but since we're not expecting you guys to need to use this in a fight just yet, I don't think we need to rush. Besides, it's not like it's something you'll be likely to use when we get back to Remnant without raising a few suspicions, so no pressure if you can't get it down as well as the others and I have."

Everyone could see Sora's point in his words, and they all started to focus on their own varieties of the scenarios that Sora had listed when he was describing the mindset necessary for running up walls. While they did that, they also started mentally chanting to themselves _'I want to go up the wall'_ over and over again as a way to better strengthen their chances of successfully pulling it off. When Sora saw that they were all completely focused on this, he started to speak again as he walked around the group.

"Now, since it's your first time doing something like this, you may notice pretty easily when the magic is becoming active in your body," Sora instructed. "It'll most likely feel like some inner spark has been ignited in your hearts, and then sends a kind of energy flowing through the rest of your body, most of it going right to your feet. Once you've felt that energy run its course and settle in position, run to the wall like you're getting ready to climb it like I had, and don't stop moving until you either reach the top, or accidentally fall down."

"Wait, what," Jaune explained, his concentration broken as he stared at Sora in surprise.

"Hey, I never said I was expecting you guys to get right on the first try. Even I fell a few times on my first attempt at this," Sora told his blonde, knightly friend.

Jaune grew a little more nervous after hearing that, but still closed his eyes again in order to regain his lost focus and mindset, while at the same starting to pray that if he did fall, he would not end up to badly hurt afterwards. Just seconds after Jaune had shut his eyes to better build his focus, Blake had shot forward so fast that her take off had actually been followed by a small bit of wind, making the others open their eyes and stare in awe at the Faunus as she made her attempt. When she had approached the cliff, she raised one foot up, placed it on the side of the cliff, pushed forward and upward, and before she knew it, she was racing up the rocky wall just like Sora had done a moment ago, and just like Sora, she did not stop until she made it to the top, much to her relief and everyone else's amazement and excitement.

"Yeah! Way to go, Blake," Ruby cheered.

"Very impressive," Weiss praised.

"Aw yeah! That's our kitty cat," Yang grinned happily.

Blake rolled her eyes a little at her partner's remark, but from the smile on her face, it was clearly with a little more humor than it usually would have been. She then took a moment to bask in the praise that the others shouted up to her, before she simply shrugged and said, "Well, it's not like it's too different from some of the things I used to do before I came to Beacon. The only difference was what direction I was going in."

"Nice way of looking at it," Sora appraised.

"I'll say! I think we may have a regular natural when it comes to this," Lea added on. He then felt a brief stirring in the air that indicated someone rushing past him, and looked to see their second volunteer making an attempt at the wall run. More than that, said volunteer even succeeded, and reached the top much faster than Blake had, and he could not help but smirk a little as he added on to his own statement. "Or two."

Blake was a bit confused by what Lea meant by that, until she turned to see Ruby standing next to her, much to her surprise. "What? I ran up the side of a cliff once while dragging a giant Nevermore along with my scythe," Ruby reminded her Faunus teammate. "Compared to that, this was a piece of cake."

After that, everyone else made their own attempts at the wall run, feeling a little more confident after seeing the success of the first two. Not everyone got it right away like Ruby and Blake had, because most of them ended up falling flat on their butts by the time they were halfway up at most. The only one who actually did get all the way to the top on his first try was Ren, which most of them had expected, given how serious and focused he tended to be most of the time, and not long after, Pyrrha had joined them at the top as well on her second attempt. Jaune was the next one to succeed, having made it on his third attempt, but the other three did need a lot more tries than the rest of their teammates. More than once, Sora and the other Keybearers had to remind Weiss, Yang, or Nora that they could not cheat by using their Semblances or weapons to give them a boost, and surprisingly, Weiss was the one who had to be reminded the most. Not that it was too hard to catch Weiss cheating, given that her glyphs were a little hard to miss when she formed them, but they did at least allow her to use them as a safety net when she did fall after a while.

Despite the difficulties that the last three had, they all still eventually made it up with the rest of them. It was a little hard to really say for sure which attempt it was that the three girls had finally made it up the cliff, but only because everyone else had stopped counting, most of them by the fifth or sixth try. Sora was the only one who came close to the actual number of attempts that the three had all made, and even then, he was pretty sure it was not accurate. Even if it was, he was pretty sure that he should keep quiet about it, given how irritated the three seemed to be over how long it took them to get it, so he just settled on praising them and ushering them all onwards in their journey to the kingdom. Sure, there were still a few more cliffs that they needed to climb in order to get there, but Sora knew that they would provide good practice for the others in the way of their new wall running abilities, assuming none of them let their patience wear out too quickly.

* * *

Call it blessing or a miracle, but either way, the team had made it through the rest of the cliffs and wall climbs without anyone losing their temper over how hard it was for them to get used to wall running. It came as no surprise that the ones who got it on their first try were able to master the ability quickest, and even started on running along the walls like Sora could, but in cases of the three who had the hardest time with it, they figured that they would just stick with running straight up a wall when they needed it and using their usual methods of enhanced movement for everything else. Not that you could blame anyone, given that the folks from Remnant were already accustomed to being able to move around and fly through the air by using their weapons and Semblances, but regardless of how the training in subtle magic went, their journey became much easier after making it through the many cliffs.

Afterwards, it was all just calm, green forest between them and the kingdom. It was so calm in fact that Sora decided to take a moment to show off for his girlfriend by repeating an old trick he had learned the last time he was on this world. Upon finding a small group of birds, Sora quietly approached them, and allowed them to settle onto his arms, shoulders, and head, before making his way back over to an unsuspecting Ruby. When she turned to face him, Ruby nearly squealed in delight at how silly and cute Sora looked with a bunch of singing birds settled on his arms like branches. Thankfully, Sora was able to quiet her reaction before she scared the birds away, and even helped her to get them to come over to her for a little while. It was a rather cute moment that Sora could not help but take a quick picture of using his Gummiphone, not knowing that some of their friends had done the same thing with their own cameras, and it was only made sweeter when the birds eventually flew off, singing like they were giving a small performance to the young couple that they had just been hanging around on.

That one sweet moment aside, there were really no interruptions in the remainder of their trip, so before they knew it, they had come to the bridge leading into the kingdom. Even though Sora had been here before, he still came to a stop right at the gates, knowing that most of the rest of his friends were going to need a minute to take in the sights of this magnificent city. Not Ventus of course, since he had come here once or twice while patrolling the worlds with Aqua and Terra, but Roxas and Lea were definitely right there with Teams RWBY and JNPR when it came to pausing in excited admiration upon seeing their destination.

"Now that's what I call a kingdom," Roxas breathed in wonder.

"It's almost like the World That Never Was but with light and a lot more color," Lea complimented. "Why couldn't we have lived here before moving to Twilight Town?"

Everyone knew the answer to Lea's question, just like they knew he was not being serious when he asked, so it went unanswered, but it did help them to get moving again, as they all proceeded into the kingdom. Not that it stopped the rest of the group from offering up their own comments on the kingdom. Assuming they could find their voices. "Seriously, if we keep seeing such amazing views and places like this, I think I'm going to be unable to appreciate it as well as you guys when we do see something amazing," commented Yang.

"It is a very grand sight," Pyrrha agreed.

"No kidding," Jaune nodded to his girlfriend.

Weiss was about to offer her own thoughts on the subject as well, when she noticed something a little odd about the place. "Say, Sora," she called out, getting the leader of their combined group's attention not even a second after she said his name. "Is it normally this quiet here?"

Hearing Weiss's question made Sora stop again and start listening a little closer, only to discover the same thing that Weiss had by the time they had gotten through the main gate. Just as Weiss had implied, there was barely any noise or sound to be heard in the area, and even without coming here before, Sora knew that a place as big as this normally had some level of noise to it unless there was something serious going on. Looking around, Sora also saw that a lot of the stands and shops appeared to be closed down, and if he were a betting boy, Sora figured that the docks were not much different. When the others realized that Sora had not immediately answered and started to tense up a little, they quickly grew a little tense as well, knowing that it was not a good sign when Sora was getting worried about something. Part of them was still glad to hear Sora finally give an answer to Weiss's question, but that did nothing to relieve them of the worry they felt about their current situation.

"No, it's not," Sora informed the group at large. Barely even a moment later, they all heard someone screaming, and he then added, "And just in case anyone was wondering, panicked screaming does in fact mean something bad is happening on this world too."

"Since when does panicked screaming _not_ mean that something bad is going on," Blake inquired.

"You'd be surprised, actually," Sora shrugged, and he left it at that as he summoned Ever After into his hand and led the charge over to the source of the screams.

Their destination ended up being the docks, and by the time they had arrived, they had all drawn weapons in preparation for combat. No one was surprised to see the Heartless buzzing around and causing damage, but most of them were surprised by something else entirely. The surprising part of the current battle was the people who were fighting the Heartless at the moment, as one appeared to be a man in a blue vest, white shirt, brown boots, and tan pants, swinging around a frying pan of all things, while the other was a woman in a pink dress with really, _really_ long blonde hair. As in long enough for her to swing it around and use it as a weapon for tying up bad guys, or swinging herself or the man away from danger like she was doing right at that very moment.

For Sora, the sight was familiar, so he was able to charge over and join the fight without any pause, while for Lea, Roxas, and Ventus, it was not too far out there from the things that they had each seen before in their lives, so they did not pause for very long before joining their leader. As for everyone else, they could not help but stop and stare for a solid, good few minutes before they even found the strength to unfreeze and speak again. Even then, it took a little bit of effort for most of them.

"Wow…And I thought I had some wild hair," Yang somehow managed to state.

"Hey you said it, not us," said Jaune, only because he could not think of anything else to say, be it in regards to the sight before them or in terms of how much he agreed with Yang's statement. Not that he was going to actually say it out loud without Yang saying something like that first. He may not be that great of a huntsman right now, but Jaune was never that stupid.

Hearing her sister and Jaune's exchange helped Ruby to finally shake off her frozen state, and with a quick spin of Crescent Rose, she was ready to enter the fight, and said, "Less talking, more Heartless bashing!"

The others had all gotten their heads in the game at that point, and immediately joined Ruby in chasing after the Keyblade wielders so they could get into the fight as well. Speaking of said fight, Sora had made his entrance into the fight quite noticeable when he slashed through a number of Shadows all at once, followed by blasting a bunch of Flutterings and a Chief Puff with Firaga, and then wrapping it all up by cutting down a few Puffballs with three swings of his Keyblade. The end of his combo attack had placed him right next to the two people who were already fighting the Heartless, and their faces both lit up in recognition once they realized he was standing there with them.

"Hope you two don't mind if we cut in," Sora quipped with a grin.

"Sora! You have no idea how glad I am to see you right now," the man happily declared in relief. "Please tell me that you brought the rest of your team with you."

"Well, I did bring a team with me, but it's not the one you're thinking of Flynn," Sora shrugged, and just as though it were planned to help prove his point, the rest of the team appeared right at his side barely more than a second later, with the rest of Team SLVR cutting down most of the Heartless in their way, while Ruby, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Weiss dealt with a few stragglers that were not blasted by the rest of their teammates.

"Whoa! There are a lot of you here now," noted Flynn, eyeing the weapons that most of them were carrying a little nervously when he did.

His moment of pause ended up nearly costing him, as several Heartless took that as their cue to pounce, but luckily Jaune came to the rescue by blocking the initial attack with his shield. The blonde leader then pushed the monsters back with a mighty shove and proceeded to cut down any that were still close by with his sword, making each Heartless disappear with a few easy swings. Any that Jaune was not close enough to deal with or missed were easily taken out by Pyrrha once she had converted Miló into its shotgun mode, but there was still one Heartless that they both missed, and it was ready to pay Jaune back for taking down its comrades. Luckily, Flynn took that as his chance to return the favor for Jaune's earlier rescue, and intercepted the Heartless with a swing of his frying pan, making the Heartless in question turn to smoke once it was struck.

Jaune just looked between where the Heartless was and the man who had just destroyed it for a few minutes before he finally asked, "Did you just…Are you seriously fighting monsters with a frying pan?"

"Hey, you'd be surprised just how effective this thing is," Flynn shrugged like it was no big deal before he turned and held the kitchen utensil towards some of the remaining enemies like a sword.

Jaune could only stare for a few more minutes, even as the rest of his teammates, Flynn and the girl with long, blonde hair had proceeded to reengage the Heartless, until he finally glanced down at Crocea Mors and said, "Well, I suddenly feel a lot better about my choice of weaponry."

"Yo, Vomit-Boy! How about lending a hand here, would ya," Lea shouted as he swung his Keyblade through more of the surrounding plant-like Heartless, making sure to add in a good number of fire spells with many of his swings.

That helped get Jaune back into the fight, and while he was not able to do as impressive a job in the battle as the rest of his friends, his contributions were still noteworthy, given that he managed to cut down quite a few Neoshadows that recently appeared part way through, and some Earth Cores as well. Of course, even with some last minute reinforcements, the Heartless were still no match for this massive group, because they were both outnumbered and outmatched, as was evident when Team RWBY busted out some of their combo moves to destroy several at once, while Team SLVR easily dispatched another large fraction with their magic. In fact, those two alone were able to take down so many Heartless that Team JNPR really only had to worry about clearing out the ones that somehow escaped or survived the onslaughts, a job that they actually shared with both Flynn and the blonde girl. That was not to say that those two did not do something to contribute, and their contribution somehow saw Ruby, Jaune, and Sora all lending a hand.

When Sora suddenly shared a quick look and nod with the blonde and Flynn, Ruby and Jaune should probably have suspected that their fellow team leader was up to something, even more so when he said that he was going to need their help with it, but what they did not expect was to suddenly be wrapped up in the blonde's really long locks after they had leapt into the air with Sora. The next thing they knew, the blonde and Flynn were using the former's hair to spin the three around really fast, bashing several of the Heartless around them, until on the last spin ended with them being unraveled from the blonde locks so that they were catapulted high into the air, placing them in the perfect position for Sora to shoot off several rounds of magic blasts, Ruby to fire plenty of Dust rounds from her scythe, and Jaune to better get his weapons ready for the devastating dive attack that they all landed to wipe out the Heartless that were not destroyed by the initial spins. Jaune looked a little green when he landed on the ground again, and Ruby a bit dizzy, but neither of them would say that it was not fun doing that. They just did not want to do it again anytime soon, at least not without some prior warning.

Sora on the other hand seemed to get a kick out of the whole thing, judging by his laughter, but that could also have had something to do with how that last attack had pretty much ended the fight, allowing him to finally relax and properly greet his old, Coronan friends. "Hey, Rapunzel! Flynn! Good to see you guys," he cheered as he exchanged a high-five with Flynn and a quick hug with the blonde.

"It's great to see you too, Sora," Rapunzel replied happily.

"Yeah, I'll say. Just like one of my best sidekicks to show up just when we need him most," Flynn added, confusing Sora's friends with his word choice.

"Did he just call Sora a 'sidekick,'" Blake quietly asked.

"Man has he got that backwards," Yang chuckled.

"Somehow, I don't think he would care even if he did know to what extent," Weiss said, feeling she already got a pretty good read on this Flynn person.

On the other side of the group, Lea and Roxas could be seen quietly observing Sora's interaction with his Coronan friends, almost as if they were making an in-depth study of something they had never seen. They were doing it so quietly in fact, that it barely took anyone long to realize what they were doing. Right when one of them was about to ask if they were doing okay, Lea finally broke his silence and said, "So that's one of the New Seven Hearts. I can feel the light even from here and there's definitely a few similarities between her and Kairi from what I can tell, at least based on how she's acting right now."

"You say that like you've never seen one of the Princesses of Heart before," noted Pyrrha.

"Because I haven't," confessed Lea. "As far as any of these princesses go, I've never actually met any of the old or new seven aside from Kairi. That time when we went to the Castle of Dreams and met Cinderella was the first time I ever met any of the others among the old seven, and this would be the first time I've met one of the new."

"Yeah, same here," Roxas admitted. "I mean, I've technically _seen_ a couple of the old seven, and in a way, I saw some of the new seven while I was still inside of Sora's heart, but I've never actually _met_ them in person before."

"Well, looks like we're going to be changing that today," Nora said with a grin.

Normally, most of the group would have brushed that off as another Nora Moment, but in this case, it ended up being her early warning of Sora approaching them with Rapunzel and Flynn, clearly eager to introduce everyone to each other as soon as possible. "Guys, this is Flynn Rider, master thief and Princess Rapunzel of Corona. Flynn, Rapunzel, meet Teams RWBY, JNPR, and the rest of my team, Team SLVR," Sora introduced.

"Just for the record, that's former thief. I'm just a handsome rogue these days," Flynn proudly corrected with a smooth tone of voice.

"Either way, it's nice to meet you both," Ruby waved in greeting with her usual cheer and mannerisms, until Weiss suddenly elbowed her in the back. It did not take long for Ruby to realize why her partner did that, and she quickly attempted to correct her approach in greeting the two. "Attempted" being the keyword, given how awkward she came across. "Uh I mean…We are pleased to…make your acquaintance…ship…your majesty…uh, highness…Princess?"

Despite Ruby's poor attempt at speaking properly, Rapunzel was not offended in the slightest. Instead, she found it amusing and could not stop herself from giggling into her hand before she finally said something to ease Ruby's nerves. "The pleasure's all ours. Any friend of Sora's is a friend of ours, so you don't need to worry about standing on ceremony with me. Just act like you normally would."

"Are you sure? We wouldn't want to be rude or offend anyone," Ren asked.

"Really, its fine," Rapunzel assured him and the others. "It's a little weird for me to have others talk to me like that, or even to have to speak like that to other people too, considering I didn't even know I was a princess until just recently."

"Phew! Well that's a relief. I was worried that Ice Princess over there would blow a gasket at us just because we couldn't talk all fancy-like," Lea sighed, taking a chance to fire another shot at Weiss.

"Hey! Watch it, Flame-Brain," snapped Weiss.

When Lea just chuckled in response, not looking the least bit worried about Weiss's threat, Flynn leaned closer to Sora and asked, "Is this normal for them?"

"Yep, pretty much. You have no idea how much those two are like fire and ice," Sora informed him.

The two then turned back to the conversation between Rapunzel and the others, just when they were nearing the end of properly introducing themselves to the princess. In fact, the very last of those proper introductions was happening right now, as the blonde member of RWBY said, "And I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister and our team's strongest fighter."

"Um, excuse me? I would beg to differ on that," Weiss disputed.

"Weiss, you may be good with Dust and fencing, but Yang's Semblance does let her stronger with every hit that she takes," Blake reminded her color opposite.

"Okay, I suppose that is a reasonable argument."

"By the way, Rapunzel, can I just say I loved watching how you fought those Heartless off with your hair, because that was awesome," Yang complimented, earning a small blush from the princess at her praise.

"Yeah, Sora told us all about how you could do stuff like that, but seeing it in action was a whole other experience," Jaune agreed.

"No kidding, but I thought he said that your hair was a lot shorter now," Ventus remembered.

"I did, and it was the last time I checked," Sora insisted as he joined the conversation again. "When or even how did your hair…you know…"

"Get back to the way it was when we first met," Rapunzel filled in for him. When Sora nodded to confirm that was what he was going for, she simply sighed and said, "It's kind of a long story."

"Hey, we've got time," Sora assured her.

"We do," Ren asked in befuddlement. A sentiment and feeling that everyone agreed with and shared. "I thought we were on an important mission at the moment."

"One that would be done way too quickly if we just popped in to check on things in each place we're going to and then left right away. We can afford to spend some time catching up with old friends and making some new ones," Sora insisted.

"Maybe you can, but we can't," Flynn told him, suddenly sounding a lot more serious than Sora was used to or expecting him to sound. "We've got some important work of our own to do, and a deadline to do it before."

"Oh, right," Rapunzel suddenly realized before she quickly started trying to braid her hair into a neater state. "Eugene, could you let the guards know everything's under control and the monsters are all gone now?"

"Sure thing, Blondie," Flynn nodded before rushing off.

"Is everything okay," Pyrrha asked out of concern.

"Not entirely," Rapunzel admitted, still struggling to fix her hair. Seeing how much trouble she was having, Weiss and Yang came over to lend a hand, and were soon hard at work braiding the princess's hair up for her. "Thank you both so much. You have no idea how hard that is doing it on my own," Rapunzel sighed in relief.

"Trust me, it's no problem," Weiss reassured her. "It's actually quite an honor getting to help a princess with something like this."

"Yeah, besides, me and Weiss may not agree on a lot of things, but when it comes to things like hair care, we're pretty much best pals," Yang added on.

"I wouldn't go that far," Weiss warned, albeit with a playful smirk on her lips.

Rapunzel could not help but giggle at the two's exchange for a brief spell, but her smile soon fell again as she began to enlighten the team on what was troubling her. "You see, the kingdom's harvest festival is coming up very soon, and it's one of the biggest ones of the year at that. The one where every farmer, fisherman, and all other folks that see to the kingdom's food needs come to sell their goods and basically gather to celebrate bountiful harvests."

"And if the last time I was here is anything to go by, I'm guessing that this festival isn't just for getting food, right," Sora figured out.

"That's right! There are all kinds of fun games, dances, and events at this festival that everyone loves so much! I could hardly wait for the moment it was here when I first found out about it," Rapunzel revealed excitedly, her mood brightening just a bit at the thought of the upcoming event. "But there's just one small problem."

"Let me guess: it typically comes in dark, shadowy colors, has some variety of claws or other deadly appendages, and has a tendency to attack anything with that has a heart," Lea figured out.

"Unfortunately, yes," Rapunzel sighed. "I know that some of your friends have been trying to keep things under control when it comes to the Heartless, but lately, it seems like they've gotten a little bolder. That wasn't even the first time that they had slipped into the kingdom; just the first time that it was such a big and dangerous group. The worst part is that if it's as bad out on the trails or in the forests as it is here, then it may cause people to think it's too dangerous to travel here. More importantly, if the attacks here on the kingdom get worse, we may end up having to cancel the festival completely, and that would put the kingdom at risk of not having enough food for the coming winter season."

That was not good news to anyone's ears, and seeing how upset Rapunzel was really drove home just how serious this matter was. What's more, it really left the four Keybearers a little concerned about a lot more than the others. Sure, they knew that Ansem the Wise had set up a scanning device that would help keep their group apprised of worlds that needed their help, but they could have sworn that their friends were still going patrols just to be on the safe side. After all, while larger concentrations of Heartless were a major priority, the small fries were still just as dangerous, especially if they were left alone for too long, as was proving to be the case here. Were their friends not being as vigilant in their patrols as they claimed, or had something slipped past their notice while they were on the worlds they were checking for trouble? It just did not make sense to Sora and the guys.

Whatever the case was, they could worry about it later, because right now, their priority was helping out Rapunzel with her kingdom's current Heartless problem, and they all knew what the easiest way of doing that was without even needing to think for very long. "No worries, Rapunzel," Sora assured her. "You just stay focused on making sure everything's ready for the festival and leave the Heartless to us."

"Oh, Sora, I couldn't ask you to do that," Rapunzel tried to refuse. Too bad for her she was talking to two people with hearts of gold and selflessness to spare.

"You don't have to ask. We want to do it," Ruby assured her. "Besides, fighting monsters and keeping people safe is kinda part of our jobs. Helping out friends just makes it even better."

Rapunzel looked amongst the group, seeing the same resolve and confidence in their eyes that was brimming in Sora and Ruby's and since there did not seem to be any stopping them, she figured it could not hurt to take them up on their offer. That did not mean that no one was going to voice some additional concerns about helping out right now. "Are you guys sure we have the time to spare for something like this," Blake asked. "I mean, I want to help just as much as you guys, but we are on a bit of a schedule."

"She's right, and we don't even know how long this festival is going to last, or how long we would need to be here afterwards," Weiss pointed out.

"The festival itself only lasts for a couple of days at most, and by the time it's over, a lot of people who are just visiting the kingdom have already started heading back home," Rapunzel filled in.

"Well how long do we have before the first day of the festival," Ren inquired, thinking that it would be important to know that as well.

Rapunzel could not help but grin a little sheepishly as she confessed, "It's the day after tomorrow."

If she was worried about them having such little time before the event, it turned out to be a silly thing to worry over, as Sora smiled again and said, "Then that means we only need to stick around for a few days at least, and by that point, if the Heartless do decide to show up and cause problems, we'll have already made sure that everything's okay for a little while longer."

Blake still seemed a bit concerned though as she discreetly moved over to Ventus and whispered, "But can we afford that kind of time? I mean, what's the time difference between this world and Remnant?"

Ventus discreetly checked his Gummiwatch to find out, and soon smiled as he said, "Well, while the time of year is a little off in comparison, the time difference between here and Remnant isn't that different at all. One day here is just as long as a single day on Remnant, so no worries there."

When Blake and the others heard that, all concerns vanished from their minds, and they lost any remaining hesitance they held about sticking around for a few days to help out. Seeing how certain they were that they could help, Rapunzel happily thanked the group and then led them all back to the castle, eager to lend them a hand in forming a plan on how they would ensure that Corona's upcoming harvest festival would be a success, Heartless or no Heartless.

* * *

With Rapunzel's help, the three Beacon teams were able to map out their plan of action pretty quickly. As it turned out, there were only two villages left to send people out, and since the festival itself was taking place in the main kingdom that meant that they just needed to divide their group up into three teams: one to defend the kingdom until the day of the festival, and two to protect the trails from those villages to the kingdom. You would think that meant that they would split up into their usual groups, but since the Heartless could only be destroyed for good by a Keyblade, they went with a much different option. Team SLVR was divided up so that there was one Keyblade wielder on the two teams patrolling the paths and two with the team protecting the kingdom. Everything else was determined by the skill sets of the individual huntsman or huntress. With that in mind, it was pretty easy to determine who was on what team.

A few hours later, Sora, Ruby, Ventus, Weiss, Jaune, and Pyrrha were off patrolling the kingdom for any signs of more Heartless, while Lea, Ren, and Nora took to one of the paths leading to the two remaining villages, and Roxas, Blake, and Yang took the other. It was not hard to decide to put Lea and Nora on one of the teams protecting the paths, as their fighting styles were a lot more destructive than preferred for a team that was keeping an eye on things in the kingdom for the most part, and it was arguable that the same could be said for Yang, but beyond that, the deciding factors were really just the fact that Sora knew the layout of the main kingdom best, and Ventus was able to get around it just as quickly and easily as Sora could even if he did not know the terrain. Add in Ruby's speed and Weiss's skill with her glyphs, and it was a no-brainer as to who was best to be on the team that was protecting the kingdom from the Heartless. That, and there was no way that anyone was going to split up Nora and Ren, or Blake and Yang. Those two pairs tended to be the best tag-teams of their respective groups, so why break them up?

For the rest of both that day and the next, the three teams were hard at work making sure everyone was safe, be it from the Heartless or really just any wildlife that could threaten people's safety. Not that there was really too much of the latter, mind you, but the Heartless certainly kept everyone buys. Just as Sora said though, most of the Heartless did appear outside of the kingdom, so the groups patrolling the trails were kept a lot busier than the third and largest party guarding was. It was a little trying for Ruby, given her energetic nature and how she always loved being able to be on the move and do something, but thankfully, Weiss and Sora were there to help keep her calm and grounded. Still, there was an odd group of Heartless that slipped into the Kingdom from time to time, but they were quickly dealt with thanks to their team.

Despite the fact that they were all doing such a good job at keeping everyone safe from the Heartless, the members of Team SLVR were still a little concerned about how the dwellers of darkness were acting. It was already strange enough that they were actually going into the kingdom to attack people, but what was even stranger was that the more time that they spent on this bit of guard duty, the more that the two teams guarding the trails came to realize that the Heartless they fought were stronger than normal. It was not to the point where it would have registered on Ansem's scanner as a major infusion of darkness, but it was still significant enough for them to be concerned. With this in mind, it reminded them again how concerned they were about whether or not their other friends were maintaining their vigilant patrols since the scanner was set up, but as they thought about it more and more, there was one other possibility that could explain why it was so bad out here. The problem was that it was not an idea any of them wanted to think about, and when they did, it made them worry even more.

Eventually, some of them started to show that concern a little more than others, so it was only a matter of time before one of their friends took notice and decided to ask. "Hey Roxas, are you okay," Blake finally inquired when their team caught a break in between guiding another caravan of travelers and protecting the path. "You've been really quiet for a while now."

"Yeah, and you know that something's up, when Blake says someone's being quiet," Yang joked shortly after.

Roxas appreciated both their concern and attempts at lightening the mood, but it did little to ease his concerns. "I was just thinking about the situation with the Heartless on this world," he admitted. "I talked with the rest of the guys, and we all agreed that there's something really weird going on here."

"Weird how," asked Yang.

"Well aside from how they seem to have gotten a little braver by attacking in the kingdom, there's also the fact that the ones out here seem a bit stronger than normal," Roxas informed them. "From what we understood, Ansem the Wise's scanner should have picked up on such a surge in darkness and alerted either him or us to the situation here, and if he hadn't, one of our other friends should have noticed something when they stopped on this world for one of their patrols, but it isn't until we arrived that this finally came to anyone's attention."

"Maybe they just missed something, or the scanner needs some work done on it," Blake offered, taking one of her rare moments of looking at things from a more optimistic viewpoint.

"Blake's right. It's not like your friends knew about this already and just left it alone for you guys to deal with," agreed Yang.

"Yeah, we thought of that too, but there's one other possibility as well," Roxas revealed.

"And what's that," Blake inquired.

Roxas was a little hesitant to broach this topic, but since he brought it up, he knew he was going to have to now, and said, "What if…what if someone told the Heartless to start acting this way because they knew we were coming?"

That startled the Bumblebee duo a little bit, right to the point where they were exchanging worried glances after they heard that, until Yang finally asked, "Do you really think that's possible?"

"I don't know, but think about it for a minute. We don't have any really big problems with the Heartless aside from one or two small skirmishes on random worlds for close to a year, and then the Breach happens on Remnant. As a result, Vale City is nearly overrun with both Grimm and Heartless alike, right to the point where it takes nearly all the active Keyblade wielders that are around right now to help stop them. Afterwards, we all take off on a patrol to some of the more important worlds out there, plus one or two others, and the literally the very first one we go to just happens to have a big problem like this? It all seems like a little too much of a coincidence," Roxas reasoned out.

At first, Blake and Yang felt like Roxas might have been reaching a little with his theory, but after thinking it over for a minute, they could see his point. It did seem pretty convenient that they ran into a problem like this on their very first stop, and especially after what had happened back on Remnant barely more than a few days ago. Still, there was a flaw or two in his theory that they had to point out.

"Roxas, I may not be an expert on these kinds of things like you guys, but from what Sora's told us in the stories of his past adventures, doesn't he always tend to run into big problems whenever he visits a world on, regardless of whether it's the first one or not," Blake pointed out.

"Yeah, besides, Torchwick's the only one any of us have seen that comes close to being a person who could control those things, and he's locked up in prison all the way back home. Who else could possibly be calling the shots," added Yang.

Roxas let that sit for a minute before he finally shrugged and said, "Yeah, maybe you two have a point. I guess I've just gotten a little paranoid after everything that happened with the Organization."

"Can't say I blame for that," Blake nodded, knowing exactly how that kind of thing felt.

The three then proceeded to carry on with their job, but even as they did, they could no longer shake the feeling that Roxas may have been on to something. Now that the seed had been planted, there was just no way of ignoring the idea that there was something sinister going on. Still, it was a matter that could wait for another time. Right now, they had travelers to protect.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lea was having a few mental conundrums of his own, but not all of it was regarding the matter of the Heartless activity on this world. Oh it was certainly up there, but there was still something else on his mind that he had deemed a bit more important than that at the moment, and he was still unsure of what to do in regards to it. The topic on his mind, as you have probably guessed, was the matter of his meeting with Raven and whether or not he should tell Yang about it. He knew putting it off was only going to make things worse in the long run, but he was still not sure if he should tell Yang. Sure, she had a right to know that her mom was at Beacon that night, but he did not want to upset her by telling the blonde Raven did not want to see her. It would doubtlessly break Yang's heart a little more, knowing that her mother was so close and had no intention of at least saying hello, but at the same time, Lea was pretty sure that Yang would probably hate him for being the one that Raven did want to see. Sure, his not telling her right away would make her mad, but he sure he could handle that; it was the idea of her hating him for seeming more important to Raven than her that he was not sure if he could take.

Lea had not really had time to talk with anyone about this, and even if he had, he was not sure if he really could talk with any of his friends about the matter. Roxas was probably going to be a little biased, given that this whole thing was so similar to their past when he found out the truth about Xion and hid it from them, and Ventus was not all that likely to really be of much help either, since he had never really had problems like that with his friends, at least as far as Lea knew. Sora was definitely not an option, mainly because of the fact that he was dating Ruby, and there was a good chance that Sora would tell her even if Lea asked him not to, and from there, it was only a matter of time until Ruby told Yang, which would not lead to a very pleasant scenario at all. Come to think of it, in Lea's mind, there were not very many good options for him in terms of people to talk to about this at all, but he was going to go crazy if he did not at least try and talk to someone about this. So, he figured that he might as well settle for one of his current partners, and he already knew which one he would prefer to talk to on the matter.

"Hey Ren, can I talk to you for a second? Guy-to-guy," the redhead Keybearer eventually asked while they were taking a break.

"Uh…I suppose," Ren nervously shrugged in reply. The last time he had a talk like that was that time with Jaune, and while it was not too bad, he was still pretty nervous for a majority of the conversation.

Lea could tell the quiet ninja was a bit uncomfortable, so he tried his best to ease into it. "You and Nora are pretty close, right? Like, you've been friends for a long time, and know a lot about each other?"

"Ever since we were kids, yeah," Ren confirmed with a somewhat fond smile that was mixed with a bit of sadness for some reason beyond Lea's understanding.

That would have to wait for later, as Lea had much more important things to discuss right now. "So, have you ever found out something…anything really, not one specific thing that Nora should know about, but at the same time would upset her if you told her?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like…something really, really huge that she wanted to know about more than anything else, but at the same time, when you learned about it, you knew that telling her would make her upset. Not necessarily mad, even if she would be since you didn't tell her right away, but upset all the same," Lea tried to explain, but he had a feeling that he was not making much sense.

"Lea, this is Nora you're talking about. She doesn't really have a lot of things she wants to know that badly, and even if she does, it tends to change a lot at a moment's notice," Ren pointed out with a good-natured smile to show he was getting in some teasing at his old friend. He grew a little more serious and asked, "Does this have something to do with you and Yang?"

"Try everything," Lea sighed in defeat. "But…I can't really tell you what it is exactly, and I know that doesn't help much, but I promised Yang I wouldn't go around telling everyone…"

"About how she's trying to find her birth mother," Ren finished for him.

Lea was not sure what was more surprising. The fact that Ren had guessed that so quickly, or how it did not even sound like he was really guessing. Knowing that could only mean that he had somehow found out about that detail, which left Lea with just one response. "Okay, when and how?"

"I just figured it out from a few small clues here and there. That and I accidentally overheard Yang talking about it with Sora and Blake the night before the dance," Ren admitted.

"Huh…That explains a lot," Lea muttered to himself after hearing that.

"So what is it that you learned," Ren inquired. When Lea kept silent, Ren did not hesitate to add, "I promise that I won't tell Yang, and I'll make sure that Nora doesn't either, because I'm pretty sure that she's eavesdropping on this whole conversation right now, despite the fact that she's supposed to be on look-out at the moment."

A faint, sheepish chuckle from nearby confirmed Ren's suspicions very nicely for the two boys, but all the same, Lea felt reassured that Ren was going to help him keep this secret. It certainly helped Lea feel a bit more relaxed in knowing that Ren had learned about Raven at all and not said anything to anyone else as far as Lea knew, so he figured he might as well spill the beans. "I met Raven the night before we left Remnant. She actually approached me for some bizarre reason that I still don't entirely understand. Hell, I'm not even sure if I really believe most of what she had been implying, but the whole time I was talking with her, I never once got the impression that she was even curious about how Yang was doing, or even interested in visiting her. All she was interested in was talking with me about some nonsense of getting me and the guys to join her for some reason or other."

"Okay…" Ren nodded to show he was listening, while on the inside, he was feeling pretty angry with Yang's mom. Having lost his own parents at a very young age, Ren could tell you that any child would want nothing more than to have just a few moments with a parent that they had lost again, so it was only natural for Ren to be upset over hearing that Yang's mother would not grant that wish for Yang.

"So here's my problem. I want to tell Yang that her mother was here, but at the same time, I don't want her to get upset over the fact that Mama Raven didn't seem the least bit interested in seeing her daughter. At this point, I'm sure she's going to be mad that I didn't tell her right away, but…I just don't want to make it worse by letting her know that her mom wanted to so much as talk to someone else more than her," Lea finally finished. "Please tell me you've got something for me on this, because I'd rather not let history repeat itself."

Ren hummed in response, knowing from what their friends had told them what Lea was referring to when he mentioned history repeating, before he finally said, "There's really only one thing you can do: just tell her."

"Uh Ren, did you not hear a word I just…"

"Lea, no matter what you do in this scenario, Yang's going to be upset, but she'll be even more upset if she hears about all of this from someone else instead of you directly, so it would be better to go with the option that would at least let you two remain close. Otherwise, you're more likely to lose her."

When he heard that, Lea could not help but sigh in defeat as he said, "I was afraid you were going to say that. I just…I don't want to upset Yang. Not because it would be bad for health if I did upset her, which it technically is." He had to pause so that he could join Ren in shivering at the thought of Yang when she was mad, but still carried on regardless of that. "But it's also because she's someone I don't want to see sad. I mean, she's always so bright, cheerful, and fun that the mere idea of making her unhappy makes me feel like it would be the same thing as kicking a puppy or something."

"Isn't that more like something you would say about Ruby," Ren questioned.

"Hey, never say that there isn't any proof that those two are sisters," Lea shrugged in response.

"True." Ren then took a moment to think a few things over before he finally decided, "Maybe you could try to think of a way to soften the blow a little. Like I said, you can't expect her to not be upset at all, but you might be able to find some way to make it hurt a little less."

"Yeah…Yeah, I think I can do that," Lea nodded, a smile starting to form on his face again. "Thanks Ren."

"Sure. Just remember not to take too long in thinking it over, otherwise it won't matter how you try to soften the blow. She will be angrier with you for not telling her sooner than she will be anything else," Ren cautioned.

"Hey, you don't have to remind me. I'm the one who's dating her," Lea half-joked in response. Even with that humorous cover up though, Lea was pretty sure that some of his fears regarding that scenario were still pretty clear. Though, that was to be expected; only a fool would not be scared of a pissed off Yang Xiao Long.

* * *

The rest of the day went by as uneventfully as you could imagine, with the team only ever fighting small groups of Heartless as they carried out their respective assignments. Out of all of them, Sora's team saw the least action, and while they were not complaining about it too much, it did leave the largest of the three teams pretty bored, at least in the case of some of its members. Still, the kingdom was well-protected and the festival was able to go off without a hitch, so they figured that they could chalk this one up as a job well done. With that in mind, it was no wonder that Sora decided that they should celebrate this fact by joining in on the festivities after Rapunzel extended an invitation to them.

When the festival got underway, they were all overwhelmed by the sights around them, as the whole city seemed to have turned into a massive party house. People were manning stands to sell goods with bright, cheery smiles, friends were exchanging stories over snacks, drinks, and meals, kids were running about laughing happily as they played various different games, and even the royal guards were taking some time to just kick back and relax. The one thing that seemed to be the most dominant though, was how everyone was gathering at the square for a number of different events, be it dances, competitions, or any other sort of affair that you would find at events like this. In short, it seemed less like a festival to some of the team, and more like a huge carnival, but there was one other thing that the huntsmen and huntresses of Remnant could compare this to, and they did not hesitate to mention it.

"It's almost just like the Vytal Festival only without any modern technology or the tournament," cheered Ruby, being one of the ones who were most excited about being able to attend this whole thing.

"I know. I'm honestly having trouble not turning around expecting to see some other Faunus or Atlesian Knights every so often because of how similar this feels to the Vytal Festival," Blake admitted.

"Oh good! I thought I was the only one," sighed Weiss, earning a round of chuckles from everyone.

"Regardless, this is certainly a lovely event. I'm glad we were able to help make sure it took place," Pyrrha commented with a smile.

"Agreed. It would've been a real shame for this to have been canceled, and not just because the practical reasons either," Ren nodded.

"Tell me about it. All this food would've gone to waste pretty quickly, and things wouldn't be nearly as sunny if there wasn't anyone here to have so much fun," Nora commented as she scarfed down a few treats she had purchased from a couple of stands. She had to borrow some munny from Team SLVR since her lien wasn't any good on this world, but she was sure that the munny she had picked up from the Heartless she took down would be able to make up the difference quickly enough.

"That's one of the things I like best about going to other worlds," Sora voiced aloud, drawing all attention onto him. "Every world is different, from its customs and rules to its people, and getting to see all of that makes it show just how great of an adventure I'm part of now that I can reach other worlds. It's always so great to see what people do for fun on each world, and it's even better when I get to participate in those events too. So whenever I arrive somewhere that I've never visited before, I can't ever help but think about what kinds of cool and fun stuff people there do, and when it comes to worlds that I have been to before, I always start to imagine about all the things I can do there this time around. You can never really know for sure what's going to happen until you finally get your feet on the ground, and that makes the adventure all the more exciting."

No one could refrain from pausing in silence after hearing something so deep from Sora of all people. Not that you could really blame them. Even with his recent bad phase, Sora never really came off as the deep contemplation type of person, so seeing and hearing him have a moment like that was a little disorienting. It was impressive, and a very interesting look at how he viewed his travels through the worlds, but it was just so out there that one could not help but stop and stare at him for a brief spell. Thankfully, they did not stay that way for long and slowly but surely, smiles began to form on everyone's faces to show how impressed they were with this viewpoint he had just shared with them.

The time of admiring deep, contemplative Sora was short-lived though, when the team all suddenly heard Zwei barking at something. Wondering what had gotten her dog so worked up all of a sudden, Ruby quickly made her way over to the corgi just in time to see him barking up at one of the food stalls. Her first thought was that Zwei must have been hungry or something, so like the good pet owner she was, Ruby quickly approached to see how much it would cost to get him a little treat, but once she was close enough, she saw that Zwei was actually barking at something else entirely.

There, sitting up on one of the stand's fruit bowls, was a cute little chameleon that looked as though he were trying to hide from the big dog that was barking at him. Seeing that Zwei's attempts at trying to make a new friend were being misinterpreted, Ruby quickly rushed over and patted the corgi as his head as she said, "Zwei, no! Down boy! You're scaring the poor little guy." Once the corgi had gone quiet or at least quiet enough to the point where the only sound he made was a shameful whimper to show he did not mean any harm, Ruby looked back to the chameleon and soothingly called out, "Hey, its okay. Come on out. We're not gonna hurt ya."

Seeing how genuine Ruby was in what she said, the chameleon slowly crawled out of its hiding spot and over to her hand, until he was standing right in the middle of her palm. When Ruby's smile widened a little more at seeing how it had climbed into her palm so quickly, the little guy seemed to smile a bit too. "Yeah, see? We're all friends here," Ruby soothed as she knelt down a little to let Zwei get closer, while also giving her dog a look in a silent order to keep calm this time.

Zwei seemed to understand, as he slowly approached the chameleon, and this time offered only small noises of greeting to it. When it saw that Zwei was not barking at it anymore, the chameleon scuttled closer and up onto Zwei's head, earning a happy smile from the corgi when he realized his attempts to get a new friend were successful, and the chameleon could not help but smile back. "There we go," Ruby cheered upon seeing the two animals getting along. She then plucked up a couple grapes from the stand, making sure to leave a bit of munny for the owner once she had, and held them out to the two as she said, "Now, who wants a little treat?"

Zwei barked happily at that, while the chameleon licked its lips and eyes a bit to show its excitement, and after tossing the grape to Zwei, the Ruby let the chameleon snatch the grape from her hand into its mouth with its tongue, much to her amusement. As if things could not get better, after the chameleon had swallowed its snack, it turned the same shade of purple as the fruit it just ate, and Ruby could not help but laugh in amusement, right up until she heard Rapunzel calling out someone's name from close by.

"Pascal! Where are you, little guy," the princess called as she got closer. Her calls ceased the minute she noticed the chameleon with Ruby and Zwei, and she quickly brightened up a little more. "Oh, there you are, and making a couple new friends too," Rapunzel commented as she let the chameleon climb up from Zwei's head onto her arm. She then turned to Ruby and Zwei as she said, "Good to see that you're both on Pascal's good side."

"Well, I've been told I'm pretty hard to hate, or something like that," Ruby shrugged modestly. "So, I'm guessing Pascal's your pet or something?"

"One of my oldest friends, really. It's hard to get him to open to strangers quickly, but I think that mostly depends on the person," Rapunzel replied. She then looked to Zwei and commented, "You know I don't think I mentioned this before, but your dog is so cute. What's his name?"

"His name's Zwei, best little doggie a girl could have," Ruby introduced, earning some happy barks and licks from the corgi once she had finished. "Oh, hahaha! And sometimes a little too friendly for his own good."

"So it would seem," Rapunzel laughed in agreement. She then let Pascal slide down her arm to Zwei again, and the two animal friends then rushed back over to their main group as Rapunzel announced, "Say, the big festival dance is about to start. Do you guys want to join in?"

"Oh, um…I don't really know. I'm not really much of a dancy girl," Ruby sheepishly confessed.

"Come on, Ruby. If it's anything like the dances that they had here the last time I visited, this will be a lot more fun than the dance at Beacon, and you don't have to worry about being all proper and fancy either," Sora encouraged. When he looked to Rapunzel for confirmation and got a nod in return, Sora smiled a little more and held his hand out to Ruby as a way of additional encouragement.

"Well…If you say so," Ruby shrugged. "But I'm still going to count on you to make sure I don't step on any toes or end up with a twisted ankle."

"I know," Sora playfully smiled as he and Ruby chased after Rapunzel, and disappeared into the sea of people that had already started dancing merrily.

Seeing her sister and Sora join in on such fun, reminded Yang of something from a little while back, and she could not help turning a smirk to the redhead she was now going out with after she had remembered. "Never had time to stop and party during your adventures, huh," the blonde repeated to the redhead.

"Hey, when I said that, I was mainly referring to me, Roxas, and Xion, not Sora. He always seems to find time to stop and have some fun on his adventures," Lea defended.

"It's true. The one most common thing being how he almost always ends up paying a visit to a certain world inside of a book while he's adventuring," said Roxas.

"Wait. What did you just say," Blake asked.

"That Sora tends to visit a world that's inside of a book a lot when he's adventuring," Roxas repeated. "It's probably one of the most peaceful worlds he's visited, and he always ends up just playing around with the friends he has in said book."

Blake's face was blank for a few minutes, and it was pretty easy to figure out why. Just the idea that an entire world could literally be inside of a book must have been pretty astounding to her, so it was not hard to guess what she was going to say when she next spoke up. "Please tell me that's one of the worlds we're going to visit."

"Sorry Blake, but unless we need to stop at Radiant Garden at any point during this tour of ours, I wouldn't count on it," Lea denied, making Blake pout like a sad little kitty.

"Aw cheer up, Blakey. You never know. Maybe that will happen, or you'll find a world that you'll like visiting even more," Yang assured her partner.

The cat Faunus did seem to cheer up a little bit, but her spirits still seemed pretty low, prompting Roxas to try a different approach. So, he went over to one of the food stands, made a quick purchase, and then held the item out to Blake as he offered, "Maybe this might make you feel better?"

Blake glanced down at what Roxas was offering, and upon seeing that it was a fish snack, she scowled at him a little and said, "Roxas Sheru, are seriously doing this right now?"

"What," Roxas shrugged, not getting what she was mad about.

"Are you seriously offering me a fish snack just because I'm part cat," Blake demanded, showing why she was upset. "Gimme that." She then snatched the snack away, almost seeming like she was going to toss it away, until she caught a small whiff of the treat and let out a pleased hum. She then glanced around at the others who were watching with interest, before she finally said, "Now I'm going to eat this, but I'm still highly offended by the implications."

It took a lot of effort on some of their parts, but everyone managed to hold in their chuckles as Blake pretty much inhaled the snack that Roxas had gotten to help cheer her up. Thankfully, there was something else that they could smile about, and that was watching as Sora, Ruby, Flynn, and Rapunzel all lead the crowd in a large dance group, and the joyous smiles on each of their friends' faces. They probably would have joined in too had Blake's cat ears not suddenly picked up on a small, distant sound that the others just missed.

"Hey, did you guys hear that," Blake asked upon turning to the source of said sound.

"Uh, no," Nora instantly replied like it was obvious, only to backtrack a second later. "Wait, is this a Faunus hearing thing?"

"Even if it was before, it isn't now. Look," Ventus said as he pointed to one of the side entrances into the square, where they all caught sight of a Shadow Heartless making its way in.

Most the group were just about to grab their weapons and attack when they remembered where they currently were at the moment. Even with such a big crowd, it would take a miracle for no one to notice so many members of their team drawing weapons like they were getting ready for battle, and the last thing they needed at the moment was to cause a panic. Still, they could not take the risk of measuring their steps to reach to the Heartless, because by the time they got over there, it would likely have slipped into the crowd and attacked someone, and that too would cause a huge panic. There just did not seem to be any way for them to get through this until suddenly, something slashed the Heartless from behind, turning it into the usual dust and smoke that always followed when one of the dark creatures was slain.

When they all looked closer, they realized that the attacker was none other than a Samurai Nobody, and everyone looked to see Roxas nodding towards his Nobody ally with a smile to show it had done a good job. With his master's silent signal given, the Samurai disappeared from view as it normally would, and left the team with a new problem to contend with. There was no way that it was just the one Shadow that was in the city right now, because as they all knew, where there was one Heartless, there was always more, and if anyone realized that, there was no doubt that the festival would end badly. Still, the earlier problem of dealing with the Heartless without anyone noticing remained, because there was no way all of them could fight the dark creatures away from any prying eyes, at least not one that most of them could think of. Fortunately, one of them had already started thinking up a solution from the moment he realized the problem at hand.

"Okay, we know that there are Heartless coming from that alley, and if I remember the layout of the city right, it leads directly to the docks," Jaune recalled as he began laying out the plan he had thought of. "We need to start there and cut them off before any more can so much as work their way up from that direction."

"Well we can't all go. Someone's bound to notice," Weiss pointed out.

"We won't have to," Jaune revealed. "Blake, Roxas, and Ren, you guys are the best we have at taking out bad guys quickly and quietly, so you'll head down the alley to the docks, and take out the Heartless for us. Just make sure no one sees you guys or notices anything happening, and we should be good on that front."

"Got it," Roxas confirmed while Ren and Blake just nodded. "I'll send some more Samurais out to lend us a hand and check the rest of the city from the shadows."

"Just what I was thinking, but we'll still need to be absolutely sure that's the only place that the Heartless are coming from," Jaune reasoned. "Ven, you and Weiss get up high and do a sweep of the rest of the kingdom. If you see any more Heartless, try to take them out as quickly as possible from above, and as discreetly as you can. The rest of us will stay here and act as a last line of defense, meaning we'll need to stay on the outside of the edge of the crowd, and keep a close watch on all the points of entry into the square."

"…That's…actually not a bad plan," Weiss finally complimented, while most of the others nodded in agreement with what Jaune had outlined. "Maybe you really are a natural born leader."

"And you doubted him," Pyrrha smirked proudly while throwing a wink at Jaune.

"But why am I not one of the guys going after the Heartless at the docks? I can be just as subtle as Roxas, you know," Lea pointed out.

"Maybe, but considering most of your best magic is fire-based…" Jaune began, only trailing off at the end in the hopes that Lea would get the hint on why he was keeping Lea back.

"Yeah, okay. Point taken," Lea nodded, figuring it out from there. If he used his fire powers too much and someone noticed, there was a good chance a small panic would start because they thought there was a fire somewhere, and that would lead people to panic even before they laid eyes on the Heartless. Mix that in with the panic that would follow once they realized what the real crisis was, and that would serve to paint a very nasty picture.

New tasks assigned and in hand, the group dispersed so they could take action, leaving the last line of defense to enjoy the show of the dancers performing in the middle of the square. As they did, they all started to wonder just how little of a "dancy-girl" Ruby really was, because she and Sora were both doing really great at the moment. That and this was also the second time that the Hero of the Keyblade had convinced Ruby to join him on the dance floor, but the point still stands.

* * *

Since Roxas had sent some Samurais ahead of them, the Shadow Team, as Jaune had insisted on naming them, did not really encounter too many Heartless as they made their way down the path to the docks. There was an odd one here and there, but they were quickly dealt with thanks to a quick slash of one of the three's respective blades. Blake and Ren probably would have fired a few shots from their weapons' guns, but they did not want to risk the sounds of gunfire being heard by anyone back at the square, so they held off on that for now. Roxas was the same way when it came to using his magic, even if he could probably try to only use spells that could have been passed off as something that came from the festival, but then again, he did tend to fight with his blades more than his magic, so he figured it was better safe than sorry.

When they finally reached the docks, they were all relieved to see that the area was completely clear of civilians, so they did not need to worry about being too discrete in their attacks. The downside was the number of Heartless that were crawling around the place, and the fact that there were a few Reapers with them too. Ren's only concern was how there were so many of the two types of monsters at the docks, but when Blake saw the Nobodies that were floating around the area, she could not help but wonder what they were doing here, especially since she was so certain that stopping Torchwick and the Breach would have gotten rid of them for a while at least. She did not hesitate to express this concern to Roxas, but she was surprised that he came up with an explanation for her so quickly.

"Okay, to be fair, Sora did say that Marluxia was the one who was scoping out whether or not Rapunzel was one of the New Seven Lights, so it only makes sense that some of leftover lackeys are still around on this world," Roxas had shrugged in response. He then readied both Oathkeeper and Oblivion as he added, "We can worry about why they're acting up like this again later. For now, let's just take them down."

The ninjas of Teams RWBY and JNPR both nodded in agreement, and with that, the three set to work. Even though they were now a fair distance away from the square and main fair grounds, the three still approached this battle with a degree of caution that saw them taking out the various monsters swiftly and quietly. Oh, Blake and Ren were peppering the Nobodies and Heartless with gunfire now, sure, but at the same time, they were doing so sparingly, and usually as a way to cover their own approaches as they got in close to slash at any targets they set their sights on. What really surprised Roxas was how at some points, Ren actually holstered his weapons to engage the monsters in hand-to-hand combat, and won! The guy was spinning and flipping through the air with ease, and landing all kinds of kicks, punches, and palm thrusts on the monsters that seemed to cause a few Heartless and Nobodies to implode on impact. Sure, he had seen Ren executing some moves like that before during the Beacon Initiation, but that was mainly against the Grimm. Seeing him do it again on monsters that he and his friends had struggled to take down with Keyblades was another matter entirely, and it was really damn impressive.

Not to say that Blake was slacking off any, as she was showing that her own acrobatic abilities were helping her to make mincemeat out of the Heartless just as much as Ren was. For the most part, she mainly prioritized using her katanna and the cleaver blade that her weapon holster doubled as to slash through the Heartless and Nobodies in an amazing show of grace and speed, but she did mix it up quite a bit when she changed her sword into pistol form and used it like a kusarigama type of weapon, flinging it around with the black ribbon that was attached to the end of the hilt. As she fought, one could also note how similar her fighting style became to Ruby's, at least in the sense that she used the recoil of her weapon to speed up the attack, but beyond that, she was really just swinging the weapon around a lot so that it cleaved through enemies that surrounded her or that were further away. When the blade of her weapon became ledged in a wall as opposed to an opponent she was aiming for, she did not let that get deter her, as she simply pulled on the ribbon so that she was using it like a grappling hook, allowing her to rush over to her original target and cleave it in two with her cleaver.

Roxas was not letting either of his Beacon classmates outshine him though, as he too was slashing apart Heartless and Nobodies left and right using both of his Keyblades. Of course, that was no surprise, given that this was not the first time that Roxas had fought against a massive horde of enemies nearly all by himself, and he barely needed to use that much magic to help him do it back then or now. Sure, it probably would not have hurt to cast a spell or two more than the occasional lightning or light spell he fired off, but Roxas knew what he was best at, so he stuck with that. He did make a mental note to try and work on incorporating magic into more of his fights later on though, but it did not seem all that necessary right at this moment. Further proof of this was the fact that he had the Samurais to back him up, as most of them were now blockading all the exits from the harbor. Any Samurai that were not blocking off the paths into the town were right at Roxas's side for the most part, helping him to destroy any Reapers or Heartless that dared to cross their master's path.

Eventually, they finally managed to whittle the numbers down to a barely more than a handful, but right in the heat of a moment, Blake found herself startled by a flash of silver, and instinctively fired her gun at the source, not realizing that it was one of the Samurai. Thankfully, Roxas jumped in to deflect her blast towards an actual enemy, but since he had to break off an attack he was already pressing, they ended up leaving an opening that the enemy could use to slip through and counter. One Neoshadow in particular nearly managed to do so, had it not been suddenly hit by a sudden sneak attack. Given the loud clang that had sounded when the Neoshadow was hit, the three could only assume that it was hit with a frying pan, which could only mean one thing that they hoped was not true.

Unfortunately, upon turning to the fight's new arrival, they found out it was, because Flynn was standing over where the recently destroyed Heartless had previously been, frying pan in hand and smirking proudly at them. When he saw the looks they were shooting him, he simply shrugged and said, "What? Did you really think none of us were going to notice when you guys slipped away like that? I was once the most daring, handsome rogue and thief of the kingdom, you know."

The three had to shrug it off for now, mainly because there was still a fight going on that needed to be finished, and if they were being honest, Flynn's arrival did make things a little easier for them. It was ironic really, given that earlier that same day, they would never have expected a man armed with only a frying pan to be effective in a fight with monsters, but Flynn was doing a very impressive job in destroying the Heartless. He was using the terrain to his advantage, bashing the dark monsters in the heads with his frying pan, and even improvising where he could to lure them into traps that ultimately ended the Heartless before their very eyes. Sure, he was having a bit more trouble with the Nobodies, but thankfully, there were very few Reapers left, and they were mainly being dealt with by Roxas and the Samurais.

Eventually, the last monster was dusted, and they all managed to breathe a sigh of relief, but Blake had a feeling that Roxas was going to be upset with her for her earlier mistake. He may not have shown it, but she was sure that the former Number XIII was at least annoyed that it had happened, so she was prepared herself for whatever scolding he was going to unload on her. When she finished stowing her weapons away and turned to face him though, Blake was surprised to see that he was not looking at her with any degree of annoyance or frustration. If anything, he looked more worried than anything else.

"Hey, what happened back there, Blake? I thought you were cool with the Samurais helping us," asked Roxas, showing nothing but worry for his friend, even as the Samurai that she had fired on came up to stand next to him.

Blake figured that Roxas had it with him so that it could hear her explanation too, so she decided to be totally honest with them. "Sorry, but I guess I'm still getting used to having them on our side, or really just any Nobodies like him in general. No offense."

"None taken, in both our cases," Roxas stated with a reassuring smile, indicating both himself and the Samurai when he did. He then looked to the Samurai, who let out some strange, quiet sounds before he added, "He also says that he understands and accepts your apology. And that he and the others will try to keep that in mind in the future."

"Wait, how did you…" Ren started to ask.

"Uh, I'm a former Nobody, and I was the chief commander of the Samurais, Ren. It's not really that hard to figure out their language for me, even if it did take a little bit of learning on my part at first," Roxas reminded him. He then looked to the Samurai and said, "You and the others better check the rest of the kingdom for anymore Heartless. You know what to do if you find so much as a hint of them, but make sure to stick to the shadows and out of sight."

The Samurai gave an affirmative sound to his orders, bowed in respect to Roxas, and then joined the rest of the Samurai that Roxas had called in dispersing from the area. The group then turned to Flynn as Ren said, "Thanks for the help back there, but you really should have stayed back at the festival with Rapunzel and the others."

"Maybe, but even when I was a thief, I still wasn't too fond of seeing others get hurt," Flynn shrugged. "Besides, you guys are pals of one of my favorite sidekicks, so I wasn't about to let you get into trouble without me to bail you out. Like I said before, formerly the most daring, handsome rouge and thief that ever lived, remember?"

"I mean, I guess that's pretty impressive, but I'm pretty sure some of us have got you beat," Blake dismissed with a small smile, though part of it was over how funny she thought it was to hear Flynn continuing to call Sora his sidekick.

"Oh yeah? Prove it," Flynn challenged with a smirk, thinking that there was no way they could top him.

"Did Sora ever tell you about a group called Organization XIII," asked Roxas as a starting point. When Flynn said no, the blonde dual wielder stated, "Long story short, both versions of the group were really dangerous to the point where they were a threat to the entire world…and I was part of the first iteration until someone helped me realize something about them was really wrong."

Flynn's smirk dropped a little upon hearing that, because he knew Roxas had him beat, but he was not willing to concede defeat just yet, so he just turned to the next person in the line of warriors before him. Too bad for him that person was Blake. "Former member of a peaceful activist group that started turning into more of a terrorist group after a change of leadership basically encouraged the more radical members to act out on their feelings. I even took part in a few of the more violent operations as well before I finally walked away."

The former thief's smirk was nearly gone now, but he still kept up some trace of his confidence as he turned to Ren. Thankfully, he was saved some bit of humiliation when the most level-headed member of Team JNPR simply said, "I think I'm probably the most normal one here. Anything more than that, I'd rather not talk about."

Flynn was not sure why Ren would say that last part, but he was willing to respect the kid's wishes and let the matter drop before he finally conceded defeat. "Okay, yeah. You guys win. Man, Sora really knows how to make friends from all kinds of circles."

"Trust me; you have no idea," Roxas sighed with a knowing smile. "Come on. We should head back and let the others know everything's okay down here now."

The other three all nodded in agreement with that, and began the trek back to the town square. As they were going, Blake had to ask, "So Flynn, if you're not a thief anymore, what do you do now?"

"Aside from helping Blondie out with getting ready for the day she takes the throne, I also work with the royal guards. Most of its mainly teaching them how to think like a thief, since I'm able to catch a lot more crooks than they can because of that," Flynn semi-boasted.

"How'd you get a job like that," asked Ren.

"Oh boy, now that is a story," Flynn recalled, and with that he began regaling the group with the tale of how he had landed that particular job, and the three were soon hanging on his every word with rapt attention.

* * *

While Roxas's group was dealing with the situation at the docks, Ven and Weiss were making their way across the skyline of the kingdom on Ven's Keyblade Glider, searching for any signs of additional Heartless attacks. So far, they had not spotted much more than a single Shadow creeping around in a dark corner, but even so, they made it a point to destroy said Shadows as quickly as possible, usually with a blast of wind magic from Ventus, or an easy blast of Dust from Weiss's rapier. Other than that, they might as well have been just taking a tour of Corona that no one else on this world could be able to take.

This little fact was going to become a little more apparent to Ventus when he eventually noted aloud, "Looks like we're pretty clear aside from what was going on down at the docks, but we should probably make one last sweep before meeting back up with the others. What do you think, Weiss?" When the heiress riding on his Glider with him said nothing in response, Ventus looked back to see Weiss gazing out at the kingdom with a look on her face that could almost be compared to the one Sora would often have when he saw something really amazing on a world for the first time. "Weiss? You okay?"

"Huh," asked Weiss with a start. Once she realized the reasoning behind Ventus's question, her face turned a little pink with embarrassment as she said, "Sorry about that, Ven. I was just…I can't help but admire how beautiful this kingdom is, especially with the festival going on right now."

Ventus was not going to disagree with her on the matter, but he was still pretty confused as to how Weiss could think that. "Aren't you from Atlas though? I mean, I've heard it's supposed to be one of the biggest and most amazing places in all of Remnant. Wouldn't that make places like this seem a little less impressive?"

"Well, yes, Atlas is a great place, and the view of it from the outside is always a wonder to behold, but like you said, I'm from the city. I grew up there, so that same wonder isn't really there for me anymore," Weiss informed him with a tone of somber. "Don't get me wrong, I do think that the city is beautiful, but when you spend a great deal of your life in that place, the appeal eventually loses its luster. That's why I find places like Vale, Beacon, or this world to be so incredible. They all have a different kind of magnificence to them that Atlas can't compare or in some cases compete with."

It took a minute or two for him to really absorb that, but really, Ventus could understand where Weiss was coming from when she said that, and he let her know that pretty quickly too. "I know what you mean," Ventus admitted. "Sora and the others have always told me that the Land of Departure is an amazing place, and while I was pretty excited and awed by the world during my first few days there, or at least the ones that I was awake and fully aware during, it started to become just another place for me because it was simply home. That's the whole reason why I like all the other worlds I've visited so much, even if they're small ones like Sora's world. They're all so different and have so many amazing and beautiful things that I can't help but get taken in by it all."

Weiss smiled a bit more upon hearing that Ventus understood where she was coming from, but then furrowed her brow a little as she asked, "Say Ven, what did you say Sora's world was called again?"

"Destiny Islands. It's a small world, but one that's tied to so many great moments in our history; almost like the universe is doing its best to showcase how it's part of a world that's so much bigger," Ventus replied with a fond, reminiscent look dancing in his eyes. "Even now, I still say that its one of the most beautiful places my friends and I have ever been to, and since they all agree with the sentiment, it's a little easier to understand why Sora and Kairi would always want to go back there, even when Kairi learned about where her birth home was."

That was now the second time that Weiss had heard Kairi being brought up, and to be frank, she was now getting a little fed up with not knowing who this person was. It was starting to seem that aside from Team JNPR, she was the only one who did not know about this mystery girl, and Weiss was not going to have that. "Ven, would you care to explain who this Kairi person you all have been talking about lately is," Weiss half-asked, half-demanded after a brief spell of silence.

"D'oh! Right. I can't believe that none of us have told you yet," Ventus scolded himself. He then stopped short for a second or two before amending his previous statement. "Then again, Ruby, Blake, and Yang only found out the night of the dance, or the night before it, and given everything that had happened afterwards between Mt. Glenn, the fight with the White Fang, the Breach, and all that, it probably shouldn't be that surprising."

Weiss was a little upset that her teammates had found out about this information and neglected to tell her, but she could see Ven's point when he brought up the latter facts, so she let it slide for now. Besides, getting angry was not going to help her get answers on who this Kairi person was, so she simply nodded in understanding and gestured for Ven to continue. One brief explanation later, and Ventus could feel the hand Weiss had on his shoulder to better help keep her steady on his Glider tighten a little, and he was sure that it meant Weiss was mad that they had not told her and the others about this sooner. At least, that was what he was thinking until he heard a soft sniffling coming from behind him, prompting him to turn around and see that Weiss's eyes had began to water with tears that she was having extreme difficulty holding back.

"Weiss…Are you…" Ventus started to ask, only for the snow-haired girl to interrupt.

"Ven, can you do me a favor," Weiss asked in a watery voice. When the blonde nodded in response, Weiss said, "Remind me to give Sora the biggest hug I can manage without seeming like I'm trying to steal him away from Ruby the next chance I have?"

Even though he was normally the one to advocate for Weiss having more of a softer side than most people gave her credit for, Ventus was still surprised to hear Weiss say that. It was very rare for Weiss to freely say things like that, even in the private company of their friends, or just the two of them, but even so, Ventus still gave Weiss a soft smile and patted the hand she had on his shoulder with his as he replied, "Sure thing, Weiss."

"Thank you," Weiss whispered as best she could over the wind whipping around them, not trusting her voice enough to come out steady at the moment. "He truly doesn't deserve all the horrible things that have happened to him, especially that."

Ventus was silent once again, and even though he did not need to say it, he felt that he had to say it anyway. "Believe me, I know better than anyone just how little Sora deserves to suffer any sadness or hardship."

The rest of their flight across the kingdom was completed in companionable silence, but nothing more needed to be said between the two at that point. They both knew how the other was thinking about their honest, kind friend who had wrongly suffered so much, and what they could do to help him know that they would be there for him if he ever needed help carrying that burden of sorrow.

* * *

The rest of the festival carried on without any further incident, and the team even found they were enjoying it more than before the small Heartless sighting. Rapunzel, Ruby, and Sora seemed to remain blissfully unaware of the whole thing ever happening as they kept up with the rest of festival goers in their fun, at least until they all got a minute to get away from the parties and crowds. At that point, the three admitted that they too had caught onto what had happened, but did not say or do anything so that they could keep everyone calm and because they knew that their friends could handle the situation well enough on their own. Hearing how confident the three were in their abilities served as a confidence bolster that some of them had been unaware that they needed until just then, and they all spent the rest of the night with brilliant smiles. One could also note that each of the couples in this little gathering of friends made it a point to find some way to get away from it all and enjoy the night time spectacle that the festival included, but at this point, that seemed to go without saying for everyone.

The next day, the team was hard at work guarding the main paths and trails as the visitors began leaving the kingdom for their home villages. Since this was the day when a majority of those people would be traveling, Rapunzel insisted that they did not need to stick around for very long afterwards, if at all. Some of them, like Ruby and Sora were a little hesitant to leave without being absolutely sure that everyone got home safely, but they found it pretty hard to argue with Rapunzel when she was being so insistent. Hearing Flynn say that it was better to not bother trying seemed to cement things for them, so when the day finally came to a close, they all prepared to head out and board the ship so that they could get to their next destination.

For a majority of the time that they were making their final preparations everyone noticed how Ruby and Rapunzel seemed to spend a great deal of time together, usually with Pascal and Zwei accompanying them both. Somehow, the two had bonded almost overnight, if for no other reason than the love they shared for their respective animal friends. Thankfully, only Ruby really seemed to gain something out of this friendship, that being a new appreciation for painting similar to Rapunzel's, because none of them wanted to even think about what it would be like Rapunzel suddenly started to share Ruby's interest in weapons.

It was not just Ruby and the princess who had become fast friends; Flynn seemed to have made himself very likable to many members of the group too. His many stories about adventures and escapades he claimed to have gone on had a good number of their group hanging on his every word, some more than others (Nora, Lea, and Yang), and from what they could tell, he seemed to enjoy a the recaps some of them gave of their own adventures. Naturally they left out any other-worldly details, but that did little to detract from the stories, especially given who was normally telling them. That did not stop Ren from correcting the details of Nora's stories as she told them like he always did though.

When they finally set out, a good number of them were not sure if they really wanted to leave, and some of the future huntsmen and huntresses looked like they intended to stay a little longer until Sora reminded them that they still had a lot of work to do, which included making sure they got back in time for the Vytal Festival Tournament. So, after one last exchange of farewells and good wishes to Rapunzel and Flynn, the crew set out for a distant, out of the way part of the forest that they could safely teleport back to the stealth gummi ship from. Not that it stopped anyone from expressing their feelings on both their time here and about their sudden need to leave.

"Aw, I really wanted to hang out and hear more of Flynn's stories," Nora whined for what was probably the fifth time since they left.

"We know, Nora, but like Sora said, we still have other worlds to check in on, and training to do for the tournament," Ren reminded his friend like clockwork.

"Besides, keep in mind that this is only the first world we've visited, and there's still plenty more out there. Not too smart to be picking favorites this soon," Lea advised the ginger powerhouse.

"I suppose that is reasonable, and seeing how impressive this world is, I can only imagine that the others we'll be visiting should be just as exciting," reasoned Weiss.

Ruby was the first to nod in agreement with her partner, and then turned to Sora as she asked, "So, where are we going to go next, Sora?"

"Don't know yet, but we'll decide once we get back on the ship," Sora replied.

"Well, wherever we go next, I'm sure it'll be an interesting adventure, if our time here is anything to go by," Pyrrha said, and as they all teleported back up to the ship, they found no disagreements from anyone. After all, she was very right about that.

* * *

_**AN: Okay, I'll admit it. Not a particularly exciting chapter, but then again, this is only the first stop, so I figured I'd have them take things a little easy at first. Sure, they didn't really do much Heartless fighting, at least not in great detail, but the main point of this arc is for the RWBY characters to visit the worlds that Sora and his friends have gone to, meet the people there, and get something a little close to the experiences that Sora and the other Keyblade wielders have gotten. Sorry if this isn't what you guys were expecting it to be, but this is really the best I could offer with this first stop.**_

_**Now, regarding a few details about this world, I did have Rapunzel's hair grow out, and this is partly because I didn't want Flynn to be the only one that fought alongside of the team. The other part of the reason is basically that I wanted to show that a few events of Tangled The Series happened here as well. Obviously they didn't go through any of the adventures from the actual episodes of that series, but the whole point was to introduce the eight first-time world adventurers to what it was like visiting worlds in the manner that they will be for this arc. As for the whole harvest festival thing...Well the chapter's title is Festivities of Corona, so of course there was going to be some kind of party going on. The whole thing was really just my own original idea. I have no idea whether or not that would actually be a thing for that world, but I knew that I wanted something like the lantern festival to happen here, or really just anything that the Remnant folks could compare to the Vytal Festival, so...there ya go.**_

_**Also, hope you guys liked the interactions and reactions that the RWBY characters had this time around. Yeah, Ruby got a bit more time to hang out with Rapunzel than the others, mainly because of their pets, but someone offered a suggestion that the two kind of bond after Rapunzel sees Ruby getting along with Pascal well, and what better way to kick start that then with Zwei. Plus, to be honest, I feel like I wasn't really going to be able to bring the pup in that much otherwise, if I didn't make that moment happen.**_

**_And what's this? Something fishy seems to be going on here. Or at least, that's the idea that Team SLVR has at the moment, given that they already hit a pretty big problem right on their first stop. Sure, they've had to deal with Heartless and bad guys at the start of their journeys before, but the level of difficulty that they faced this time is just high enough to make them feel like there's something going on that they need to be worried about. What do you guys think? Is there something going on?_**

**_Sora: What are you asking them for? You should already know if there is._**

**_AN: Sora, I'm being dramatic/clever. Getting the brain juices flowing so that they can start imagining what may or may not be going on behind the scenes during this arc. Please try not to kill the mood._**

**_Sora: Sorry._**

**_AN: Ahem, anyways...looks like Lea's at least talking to others about the big problem he currently has, but the question still remains of whether or not he's going to be able to follow through on the solution Ren offered._**

**_Yang: He'd better follow through on it, if he knows what's good for him!_**

**_AN: Okay, easy there dragon girl. Dial it back. No need to be activating your Semblance just yet. No monsters here, no Raven, no Ace Ops; we're all friends here._**

**_Yang: [takes a deep breath as her slowly burning hair returns to normal along with her eye color] Okay...I'm better now._**

**_AN: You sure? You good?_**

**_Yang: Yeah, I'm good. I'm calm._**

**_AN: Okay. Good, just...stay that way a little longer. Now then, aside from mentioning how Jaune got to show off how his abilities as a leader have grown, Weiss's reaction to hearing about Kairi, and everything else like Sora's big moment of getting really deep when expressing his views on the adventures he's had on other worlds, I don't think we've got much else to talk about. Aside from review answers that is..._**

**_"twilightnite13", ask and you shall receive, as you saw in today's chapter, they've got a very good way of keeping track of how much time passes on Remnant while they're gone, so no worries there._**

**_"the mysterious Mr.E", now that's something I'm keeping under tight lock and key until we get to that point of the story, which won't be until the sequel, actually. Sorry, but you're just going to have to use your imagination for now._**

**_"SuperSayainFever", thank you for that clarification, but unfortunately, I know nothing about that Joker you described. The only ones I know of are the playing card and Batman villain variety, and all the ones that everyone knows about._**

**_"keybladelight", sorry, but I'm not currently planning on doing any Organization XIII battles here in the main story. The idea of them visiting the Keyblade Graveyard though...well, that's another story that can be filed under remains to be seen, but does seem pretty likely at this time._**

**_"SpeedMaster642", to answer your Keyblade Legion question, yes, the meetings with the Gullwings will out very differently than they did in the game. That's all I can really say about them at this time, so I hope that at least helps your peace of mind, as you called it._**

**_"Spiderfan626", boy I hope that isn't the case._**

**_Yang: Why not? I brought a new kind of life to your previews._**

**_AN: Like I was saying, boy I hope that isn't the case. Like the suggestion for the return of Tai as the Fixer when I get around to SLVR Chibi, but I wouldn't be too worried about how he'll react to his girls going off-world. I mean, if he really was that big of a worrier, he probably wouldn't even let them go to Beacon, am I right?_**

**_Ruby: Uh...have you met our dad?_**

**_AN: Well...uh...moving on. Let's get real here, if you've seen Descendants, you know that Maleficent would be right there with Raven and Mother Gothal's standing in the competition for Mother of the Year._**

**_"Dragon Rider 66", let me help clear up your concerns about Raven's comment regarding Kairi; she doesn't actually know for sure about Kairi's status. She was just saying that to get under Lea's skin, or really just to get any kind of reaction or as a way of pushing him and the others to join her tribe. So, no worries there. As for how long this arc will take...I'm actually not sure, to be honest, but I can say that it will be a rather interesting length of time, not to the point where the chapter numbers go up to triple digits, but a good number all the same. And no, they will not be visiting any the sleeping worlds. Sorry._**

**_"Monkey D. Conan", I can go ahead and confirm that when it comes to the moments when I do have the full introductions written out, Sora will be introducing Ruby as his girlfriend to all his old friends. As for the judges' rankings on how sickeningly sweet those two will be...Ladies, if you would?_**

**_Yang, Blake, Weiss, Pyrrha, & Nora: [all hold up score cards that read ten. Well, Nora's is upside down at first until she realizes it and flips it right side up]_**

**_AN: There ya go. Right now, we will be visiting the worlds of the Previous and New Seven Hearts, but there will at least be one or two other ones to show up as well. Not saying that we'll see the full details of what happens on each world, *cough* Wonderland *cough*, but we will at least reference what happens on the worlds that we don't go into full detail on. And yes, there will be at least one world that requires a form change. In fact, such a world will be the next stop, as I'm sure you'll realize after reading next chapter's preview. There may be one or two moments that could possibly serve as a clue as to who the New Seven Heart on Remnant could be, but as far as steps towards awakening the power, not a chance. That's going to be something that will only really happen when we return to the events of RWBY for Volume 3._**

**_"CT7567Rules", I will go ahead and confirm for you that we will see visits to the Caribbean and Olympus, and since we're visiting the worlds of both the new and previous seven hearts, Agrabah will likely appear as well, even if only briefly. But I suppose that the comparison you made between this arc and the ones you mentioned for my other stories is a very good one, so nice thinking there._**

**_"SeereSakura", glad to see you're liking the story so far, and believe me, I know how the dialogue tends to seem at those points too, but I really do the best I can to make sure that it works, and that it helps to better showcase how involved the KH crew is in these events now. Otherwise, I feel like it would make it seem like one side makes the other seem a little less special or important than the other...or really something like that. I don't want to say weaker or anything like that, but I'm sure you get my meaning. As for your questions regarding Chirithy, Lauriam and Elrena...ehhhhh, it's a little up in the air at the moment I'm afraid, mostly in regards to Chirithy. Lauriam and Elrena, I wouldn't expect to appear any time soon right now, at least not in this story. The sequel...well that's more of a maybe for the moment. Hope you continue liking this story as much as you have thus far, because I'll be doing my best to make sure that it doesn't disappoint anyone as it continues on._**

**_"CervantesOsis", yes, Roxas's Oathkeeper and Oblivion are his own, so while the scene suggestion you mentioned would be pretty cool, I wouldn't expect it to be a likely thing to happen if I were you. Also, I love using Double Form. It's pretty much helped make my go-to choice of default Keyblades aside from Kingdom Key in KH3 very easy to make._**

**_"TheRedeemer1995", no, we will not be including anything from RWBY: Grimm Eclipse in this story, I'm sorry to say. Personally, I feel like that bit of story is really just unnecessary excess in this case, and would be a little out of place with everything else that goes on here._**

**_"Twisted Pxl", there will be a few things included from Re:Mind in the story, some of which will be revealed in this arc, but you'll have to wait and see before finding out what those will be._**

**_And finally, in a general response review to everyone who asked, no, I will not be adding any new worlds that have not appeared in the KH Series before now. As I said in the previous chapter's author's note, we are only sticking with places that Sora and his pals have visited before in this arc, especially since the main point of this arc, for the most part, is for them to check on the worlds that are home to Previous and New Princesses of Heart (at least in terms of the ones that have been identified and confirmed so far in the case of the latter), with one or two other ones popping in every now and then. Sorry if that kills the hype of the arc for anyone, but that's just the way it is this time._**

_**Well, I'd say that covers everything. So it is that time once again. Time to move Onto the Preivew!...**_

**_After returning to the ship, the team is just about to select their next stop when they suddenly receive a call from an old friend of Sora and the gang's. Apparently, Ansem the Wise's scanner has picked up on a huge spike in darkness, and while it may not be on a world with one of the Previous or New Seven Hearts, it is still vital that they investigate and deal with whatever the source of the disturbance is. Recognizing the world as one of the ones he had most recently visited, Sora is especially excited to bring his friends there for many reasons. The biggest of those reasons: it'll be the first time that his friends from Remnant will get to experience how some worlds require you to change forms to better protect the world order. Just what is this next stop in their tour going to be? Well, let's just say that this one time when it may be okay to play around with some toys, as you will all see next time! _**

**_Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy._**


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